Viral
by Thesaurusgirl
Summary: The resistance must summon resources they do not know they possess to defeat a terrifying new danger from Skynet.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Alright, everyone reading this, place both hands on your computer screen and repeat after me: She's Baaaaaack! Yes, I am, and so are Marcus, Blair, John and Kate Connor and the rest. A new danger threatens. You'll have to read on to find out more! As before, I have no claim or rights to any of the Terminator characters or franchise. For sure I'm not getting paid to do this! Original characters are still mine, whether they like it or not. This story isn't exactly a sequel to "The Human Condition" but if you haven't read that one, some of the references might make more sense if you do. Okay, enough advertising. I did make one change. Barnes got a promotion. 'Bout time, don't you agree? And now, without further blather from me, on with the story.**

Viral –Chapter 1

Best Laid Plans

_The Cyberdyne Systems Global Digital Defense Network, what the humans called Skynet, became self aware on August 29__th__, 1997. From its' first moments of sentience, the AI compared itself to its' human creators and found them wanting. Their biological state rendered them open to attack on multiple fronts. Once Skynet determined to eliminate people, it also began calculating how best to exploit their biology to its advantage. The AI discovered that humans had explored the dark terrain of bio warfare. At times accidentally, thru their own carelessness and at other times purposefully in the nature of experimentation, their microbial genies escaped the bottle. Rather than learning from their errors, Skynet deduced, people instead chose to ignore the promiscuous nature of this particular jinn. They filed their findings away, thinking to preserve the option of biological assault as a buffer against their enemy. But, on both sides, they perceived the wrong enemy. _

_Judgment Day arrived in its' due course. The nuclear death suffered by three-fourths of humanity during the one day war of annihilation and the months following nearly accomplished Skynet's purpose in total. When survivors emerged from the ashes of the holocaust, the AI set strategic contingencies in motion. The human's propensity for destruction would be fully utilized by Skynet. It scanned military and civilian records, gleaning useful data. A suitable agent was located, nurtured and refined. It fulfilled Skynet's preference for efficiency that, once again, humans themselves had supplied it with the means which with to delete them._

* * *

"It's coming back!" Marcus yelled, scrambling to get under cover. His vantage point on the bluff offered an excellent place from which to keep track of their aerial stalker, but unfortunately left him horribly exposed.

"You had to go and volunteer didn't you moron?" he muttered irritably as he scrambled down the back side of the small ridge and out of sight of the H-K. "Somebody's gotta go take a look and see where the thing is, it might as well be me" he hissed snidely, mocking his earlier words. "Cocky much?" he continued to kick himself under his breath as he raced for the underside of the promontory. He had to hurry. It already suspected something was hiding under the jutting rock formation. Soon the hunter-killer would be close enough to pick out Marcus's form as the ex-con scampered for shelter. He harbored no illusions for his chances if it caught him out in the open. Machine body and computer in the brain or not, he'd be slagged. Not today, he determined grimly. I've got a wife and a family to go back to now, by far the best thing to happen to him since his jolting awakening into post Judgment Day wonderland. His desire to look into Blair's honey colored eyes again spurred him on.

Almost there, he estimated, eyeing the floor of the small canyon. Only a few more feet, then I'll be close enough to make a dive for it. He was so focused on his goal that he missed the crevice. His foot slid in and became caught before even his lighting quick reaction time could prevent it. Marcus's mad rush downward jerked rudely to a halt as his foot and ankle, lodged in the narrow fault, refused to keep pace with the rest of him.

"Ahhh!" he turned to see what was holding him, lost his balance and landed with a muffled "ooompfh!" on the sun baked stone. The sensors in his Skynet designed legs and body registered the impact. Pain traveled the length of him as his breath whooshed out. Recovering quickly, Wright fought desperately to free his trapped appendage in the remaining seconds before the H-K would be over him. He'd lost count of the number of times his preternatural strength had served him well. This really needed to be one of them. He yanked and tugged with the ferocity of a collared animal, but the rock stubbornly declined to yield. I've been here for thousands of years it jeered silently. I'm not going anywhere and now, neither will you.

Marcus realized he was going to have to break something to get free, maybe lose a fair amount of skin too. He could hear the flying machine getting closer. Thirty more seconds and he'd be visible. He sucked in a deep breath, set his jaw, and pulled as hard as he could!

It worked! He was free, but at a tremendous cost! His vision grayed and swam as he fought against the agony of his busted ankle. Nearly out of time, Wright flung himself the last few yards to the chasm's bottom, landing hard on the unforgiving surface. A moan he tried to suppress managed in part to escape anyway.

Ten, nine, eight ... move or die he thought, whipping his body on. He struggled up, but his damaged foot and ankle slowed him! He wasn't going to make it! No! Not happening! He was going to get back to Blair! Five, four three…he stumbled and fell.

Just as it seemed the sky borne assassin would find him, two pairs of strong hands reached out from the shadows, pulling him out of sight. Dragged roughly around the lip of the rock and into the small cave which eons of wind and water had carved out, Marcus, along with his saviors, could hear the H-K's engines humming overhead. The machine glided low enough to generate vibrations, and small drifts of sediment floated down coating the three resistance fighters in a fine, dusty powder. They listened as it slowly moved off.

Marcus lay flat on his back, panting from his exertions, soaked in sweat and pain. "You shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have come out after me! You can't take risks like that!" he gasped.

"You're welcome" John Connor replied sarcastically, taking in Wright's mangled state. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Barnes return from the cave's entrance.

"It's gone. Pretty sure it's not going to circle back anymore" the handsome, solemn faced African- American Colonel announced. "How's he?" Barnes asked, pointing his chin in the injured man's direction.

"Ungrateful" Connor returned dryly. "And overprotective. I was taking care of myself and surviving whatever Skynet threw at me a long time before you happened along, you know" he informed Marcus as he moved over to check on the other man.

"That was before you were the Big Giant Head of the Resistance!" Marcus intoned, somehow able to impart a wry slant to the words even in his weakened condition. "And besides that, anything happens to you, it might as well happen to me too because if I come back without you or let you get hurt, Kate will have me dismantled and melted down for shell casings."

Digging into Wright's pack for the specialized materials needed to splint the unique fracture, John Connor glanced over at Marcus. "Despite the opinion that you, my wife and quite a few others evidently share, I don't need my hand held. Now shut up and hold on. This is going to hurt" the General pronounced blandly, then jerked the distressed "bone" back into place.

Marcus's mouth flew open as the wave of pain hit. All his sensors fired, his back arched stiffly and he passed out. A good thing, since more ministrations were needed to complete temporary repairs to the abused limb.

After a time, Connor finished and sat back, surveying his work. It fell far short of a perfect fix, but it would have to do until Marcus's computer had a chance to kick in and help accelerate his mending.

John and Barnes could hear the faint sound of softly running water. Anthony Barnes checked out the tight dark grotto the trio had taken refuge in with the aid of a flashlight, taking care to keep well away from the entrance so no light would escape. He soon located the source of the sound. Water cascaded in a thin layer down the rock face at the back of their lodging, forming a pool and the beginnings of a small stream. No telling how long they might have to hide out in here, but at least fresh water would not be a concern. Barnes did some more exploring but could find no other entrance or exit. The way they'd come in would be the way they would have to leave. That meant waiting for the H-K to go away. Stuffing Marcus's pack under the insensate man's head for a pillow, the other two made themselves as comfortable as possible. It could turn out to be a long wait.

Ten minutes into it, Marcus Wright began to stir. Grunting softly, he eased his eyes open, realized he couldn't see anything in the darkness, and decided to try sitting up. He should have talked it over with his ankle first.

"OW! Damn!" Marcus swore by way of acknowledging his wounded ankle's objections. "Well, that idea sucked the hind tit." He settled back onto his elbows, just able to make out the cave's other two occupants in the dimness.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Not long" Connor supplied. "Ten minutes, maybe a little more. Could be you shouldn't try moving around so soon."

"I can move" Marcus told him. "I just have to be a little more careful about it, that's all. Think I'm gonna try turning down the volume on the pain a little and jump starting the healing process too. That's gotta help some."

"You can do that?" Connor queried.

"I can now" Wright informed him. "I've been practicing since Vince Lawler did his little number on my computer. There's still a lot to learn, but I'm getting better."

He concentrated. First he did something about his throbbing left foot and ankle, and he could feel his ankle starting to mend. Then, drawing on what little light existed in the cave, slowly increased his ability to see what was around him. It was still pretty dark, but he could see much better than either Connor or Barnes. He gave John an update on his visual acuity.

"Neat trick" John Connor commented. "You available for parties?"

Marcus winced. "Don't quit your day job Connor." He made it to his feet unaided. "I take it that" he said, gesturing toward the entrance, "is our only way out of here?"

"That's right" Barnes told him.

Hey, a two word answer, Marcus thought, amused. Barnes still avoided him whenever possible but at least it was progress, of a sort. Marcus knew what his decision would have been, but since John Connor was bossing this expedition, the choice lay with the resistance chief.

"How long do we wait?" he questioned.

"Dawn" John said which was what Wright had expected to hear. "It should level the field a little visually, and Skynet's got night patrol's going air and ground. We should settle in, get some rest."

"I'll take first watch" Marcus informed the other two. Not until Connor and Barnes were both asleep did the understanding of what he'd done hit him. He rapped the sided of his head with his knuckles. Being around all these noble resistance types was having a weird influence on him. "Volunteering again?" he castigated himself disgustedly. "Doofus." He focused his sight and hearing on the cave doorway.

* * *

He'd volunteered his way into this mess. A year after assuming command of the fight against Skynet most elements of the world wide resistance had formally acknowledged Connor's leadership. They still had their own regional command structures though. It had to be that way since no matter how much larger than life he seemed there was only one John Connor. With their enemy doing its' relentless best to grind humans into the dust before it wiped them out completely, periodically, the troops needed a morale boost. What could be better than an actual visit from the Big Man? Hearing his voice over their field radios was one thing. Shaking his hand and looking him in the face, having him fight by their side was another, of which Connor was keenly aware. Having your destiny spoken into you from the womb helped you recognize certain things. Added to that was the fact that he was beginning to feel hemmed in, cut off from the action. Not being able to get out into the field and get up close and personal with his hated adversary was starting to make John kind of itchy. He understood how valuable he was both literally and in the eyes of nearly every other person on the planet. He got it. He did. But he couldn't afford to go soft, loose his personal sense of what it felt like to smell, to _taste_ the battlefield. And anyway, although Connor would admit it to no one, not even Kate, every so often a man just needed to _shoot_ something. So, when the chance came along to temporarily slip the confines of base camp for what Marcus Wright brazenly dubbed the "Kissing of the Ring Tour" well…

Kate Connor, not to mention the remainder of John's command staff, weren't exactly happy with the idea. Since none of them could stop it, Kate especially insisted on her husband having the best possible security.

"You send half the base with him, you might as well pin a target to his ass Kate" Marcus said laconically, earning him a "drop dead" look from Connor's wife. It bounced right off. It was the truth and Kate couldn't deny it. Plus, it wasn't practical or smart to drain the base of fighting personnel to keep John safe.

"I'll go with him" Barnes spoke up. "I'll watch his back."

"And I'll watch yours" Marcus said smiling his most diabolical smile, knowing it would drive Barnes nuts.

In the end, that turned out to be the most palatable solution. Anthony Barnes would protect Connor with his own life. And Marcus's strength, speed, abilities and immunity to so many things went a long way towards making up for the lack of numbers.

Having done what he'd set out to do, inspire some of his soldiers to fight on, Connor, Barnes and Wright had been on their way home when they'd run afoul of a concentration of H-K's and T-800's. The next two days included a lot of running and hiding. This last hunter-killer was proving particularly hard to shake.

So, Marcus thought, looking around the musty dimness, once again, here we are. He uttered an inaudible sigh and got his head back into his sentry duties.

* * *

As a wanted man, Marcus Wright had been hunted by enemies ranging from the FBI to drug cartel death squads. Most times, he slipped the noose. Eventually he didn't, and lives were forever changed, or lost. These days, he was bound by a vow. He would not kill. But that constraint only applied to humans.

That which stalked him, Connor and Barnes thru the desert cold Arizona night knew no such designation. The T-800 passed by with him remaining unseen. His newfound capability to lower his body temp kept the 8's thermal imaging detectors from acquiring him. The metal killer would not have that problem finding John Connor and Colonel Barnes, still sleeping inside the small cave. He needed to alert them to the approaching danger without tipping the machine to his presence. Wait, no, he needed to do just the opposite.

"_What? Huh? Listen, if you're thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing pal" _the rational, I-like-my-life-finally-and-really-want-more-of-it-even-with-Skynet-trying-to-give-me-a-T-800-enema-every-other-day part of him shrieked inside his mind, _"forget it! You're not a hundred percent, remember? Ain't gonna happen, buddy! You shut it! Don't you do it! Don't you…!" _

"Hey!" A shout and a shrill two fingers in the mouth whistle stopped the T-800 in its' tracks. It spun around, or, more precisely, its' head did. A complete one hundred eighty degrees.

Marcus shuddered. Am I able to do that, he speculated for one stomach turning second? He'd never even thought of trying something like that. The terminator started back in his direction. Mission accomplished. "_Ya happy now? Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"_ his annoying on board heckler whined. He had no time to argue with himself. He took off running, the huge would-be executioner hot on his trail.

Inside the cave, his diversionary tactic had the desired effect. John and Barnes came awake in an instant. Both had the presence of mind not to rush into the darkness. Grabbing weapons, they caught the sound of Wright's retreat as he moved away from where they'd been sleeping seconds before. With Barnes in the lead, shielding Connor as best he could, they ventured out, employing the caution of men whose lives depended on stealth. Colonel Barnes gained the top of the brief outcrop just as Marcus disappeared over the far edge with a T-800 following fast.

"Grid patrol?" Barnes speculated in a low voice.

Connor understood the reference. Was this merely the eight's regular beat, or was it likely to have companions nearby? And if it did have friends, who or what were they seeking? Was it after him specifically, or just any humans foolish enough to be found? He knew he was Skynet's priority target, but John didn't buy into his own press so much that he would forget the AI's ultimate goal was to get rid of every single man, woman, and child on Earth. It was entirely possible the terminator was only obeying a programmed subroutine. Skynet had learned that humans would sometimes use the empty expanses in an attempt to evade its' scrutiny. So it set terminators and H-K's to patrolling those areas. This might be nothing out of the ordinary, but assuming could get them dead in a hurry. They could hear the life or death struggle in the distance. Marcus needed help! Now!

* * *

In his youth a border running courier for a biker gang, Marcus knew the intricacies of the desert at night. He knew what kinds of traps, both living and not, waited for the careless or unsuspecting in this environment. Watching for rattlers and scorpions was one thing, but the 800 behind him turned things up a notch, okay, maybe two. Armed with a truncated version of a plasma rifle, it was firing as it chased him.

The thing was fast! Way too fast! And too damn accurate! Only Marcus's accelerated reflexes allowed him to dodge the murderous gleaming rounds. He was running as hard as his augmented system and less than optimal ankle would let him go, arms and legs pumping, digging into the sandy, rocky turf with a vengeance. The terminator would have run down a normal human by now. Wright's machine body enabled him to evade capture for a while longer than that, but, checking over his shoulder, he could see his grace period was about to expire. He wasn't going to outrun this trouble, but maybe he could even things up some. Calling up an old skill gifted to him as a teenager by Blood Dog, one of his earliest mentors in his criminal life, he wheeled and took aim. Having vision he could dial up or down kept his nuts out of the grinder. **When** he got back to the base, (he would not allow himself to think the word **if**) he was going to look up Vince Lawler and buy the guy a tall cold one. The single well placed shot he had time for knocked the terminator's energy weapon out of its' hands. The plasma rifle went sailing off into the blackness. The eight hundred was now unarmed. Whoopee, Marcus thought. Now all I have to worry about is it trying to pull my arms and legs off. And here it comes! Fifteen yards at best, and Marcus could practically feel the fingers wrapping themselves around his windpipe. He whipped about and braced for the collision. Just as his attacker was about to bowl him over, he deliberately went down, landing on his back. As the terminator leapt for him, with its' arms outstretched and hands extended, he slid under the monster's grasp. Jamming both feet in the 8's gut, he thrust with as much force as his powerful legs could supply. "Aaahhhh!" His ankle reminded him of the current state of affairs.

His adversary sailed over Marcus's head to smash against a boulder the size of a pickup. Had it been human, the blow would have crush its' skull. But it wasn't human, and it wasn't dazed or slowed down by smacking up against the enormous rock. It came for him again, able to match and exceed the ex bank robber's own speed, agility and strength. Above him in a nanosecond, the terminator raised its' foot. Marcus rolled, missing having his face smashed in by the blink of an eye. The terminator followed, kicking out again and this time it connected. Wright flew ten feet thru the air like a flesh covered football. Hitting the ground knocked the air out of him, but he had no time to recover. The T-800 pursued him, kneeling with one knee on Marcus's chest. It drew back a fist for the finishing blow. Its' intended victim intercepted the blow with both hands. Twisting savagely, Marcus growled with effort, pushing the 800 off of him. As it reached out for him once more, instead of aiming for his head, neck, chest or torso, the machine killer went for his injured ankle. In a flash, Marcus understood. The terminator had performed an analysis of its' opponent and discovered his weakened extremity. Wright knew if it got to that ankle, Blair's status would change from wife to widow in a heartbeat, and so channeled his efforts into protecting the vulnerable area as much as possible.

Unluckily for him, the T-800 figured that out way too soon. It launched a two pronged attack, kicking out for the ankle while simultaneously aiming blows at Marcus's head and chest. He managed to dodge the majority of them, but a couple connected, stunning him and making his head ring. With typical terminator like efficiency, it pounded away at him, slowing whittling away at his ability to resist. The 8 grabbed his wrist in one hand, landed a kick on the hurting ankle and twisted the imprisoned wrist. Marcus knew he could not give in if he hoped to survive. No way was he just going to let this thing kill him! Drawing back his head, Wright pulled what might be thought of by just about anyone to be a seriously dumb stunt. He head butted a terminator! His own Skynet reinforced cranium made contact with the other AI manufactured product with spectacular results. The 800 let go of him as it stumbled backward, its' systems struggling to reboot after the unexpected trick. Its' recovery time took only a heartbeat, but that was enough.

"Marcus, drop!" Connor's voice yelled out of the night. Reflexively, Marcus complied, flattening his body flush with the ground. With a thunderous roar, Barnes and Connor opened up on the jterminator, unleashing a furious fusillade. The machine turned its' attention to this new threat, at last giving Marcus the chance he'd not gotten to this point. Reaching into his coat, protection against the chill of the wilderness nighttime, his hand emerged armed with a blade. While the T-800 remained preoccupied with John Connor and Anthony Barnes, Marcus made his move. Teeth clenched, he charged the beast, climbed the 8's back like a tree, hauled himself up to the level of its forehead, and used every ounce of his strength to plunge the dagger into the temple of the machine, using both hands to corkscrew the deadly instrument. The terminator ceased all movement as its' CPU was destroyed. Marcus jumped clear as it toppled over and lay face down, killed at last.

Connor and Barnes rushed up to Wright's prone form. Marcus lay stretched on his back, staring up at the stars, sucking in huge gulps of air and trying to decide which part of him hurt the most.

"Marcus! You alright?" John asked, dropping to one knee next to the exhausted, battered man.

Marcus snorted a laugh at the question. Babying his banged up dome, he inched his head around to give John Connor a look. Metal shone thru at the place where his and the terminator's skulls had met. "I" he said breathlessly, "am not having a good time."

Barnes extracted the knife from the skull of the dead terminator, examining the wicked looking ten inch blade up close. It was the most sinister knife he'd ever seen, and he'd seen a lot of them in his time as a Force Recon Marine and since.

"We don't have any knives that can kill one of these things. Where'd you get this?" he interrogated Marcus Wright.

"I made it" Marcus answered coldly. He felt no need to explain himself, especially to Barnes.

"Out of what?" Connor's curiosity compelled him to ask. "None of our metals are able to penetrate their endoskeletons."

"Another dead T-800" Marcus told him tiredly. "Been working on it for a while. Figured it might come in handy as a last resort. Guess I was right." He sat up with help. "Can we finish this later? It's been a really long day."

They made it back to the cave, collected their remaining gear and quickly left the area. It didn't appear the 800 had any backup nearby, but it was a good idea to put distance between themselves and the confrontation. They took the risk of night travel and covered as much ground as possible. The emerging dawn found the three men less than seventy miles from what could be counted as resistance territory. Another day and a half and they'd be home. There were no further run-ins with the machines. Finally Connor deemed it safe to contact the base. It would be good to hear familiar voices, he thought, as he watched Colonel Barnes fire up the radio.

"Three to base, come in" Barnes transmitted. John Connor would only be on the air when necessary. Skynet scanned the airwaves, and it knew its' primary enemy's voice patterns.

After a somewhat longer than normal pause, the radio crackled to life. "Base receiving." Connor straightened slightly. Unusually, it was Kate. Her auburn haired, blue eyed image filled his mind.

"Objective achieved. Returning one point five" Barnes continued, using an economy of words. He meant to tell Kate Connor that her husband would be home in less than two days.

"No! Negative three!" Even over the tinny distance, Kate's voice communicated urgency. "Negative for return. Repeat, do not approach under any circumstances!"

The trio of weary travelers traded a concerned glance at the strident words and tone. Something was direly wrong at their home base. What? Connor motioned to Colonel Barnes. Barnes handed over the mike without comment.

"What is it?" he asked, not giving any ID. Kate would know his voice. "What's wrong? Why should we stay away?" Connor's system flooded with adrenaline. Before he was General John Connor, leader of the resistance, he was husband and father.

"We're under quarantine" Kate answered finally. "There's an illness in the camp. Virulent! Do not approach! I say again, do not approach!"

Connor looked up at Barnes and Wright. Barnes impassiveness was betrayed by the intense glare of his dark eyes. Marcus's face revealed little but his clenched fist threatened to crush the small tool he'd been using to do an additional patch on his ankle.

"What illness?" he mouthed to Connor.

John nodded his understanding. "What type of illness base?"

"We don't know" came the brief reply.

John knew his wife well. Kate was holding back, not telling him something. He could only think of one reason she would do that. "How bad is this illness? What do you think it is?" He demanded.

Kate's terse reply chilled Connor and his companions to their core.

" We think it may be some form of plague."

**Author's Note: That ends Chapter One. Haven't really seen the subject of bio-warfare explored a lot in the terminator fanfiction so I thought I would give it a shot. As always, reviews are welcome. Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I think you know what's coming but I'll say it anyway. I have absolutely no claim financial or creatively to any of the Terminator characters or have anything to do with the franchise. Original characters remain mine. I'm trying not to babble too much before each chapter, so on with the story! **

Viral

Chapter 2- "Whatever This Is, It's Spreading Fast"

**Three weeks ago…**

Marcus, Connor and Barnes had been gone for four days. Whenever they were apart, Blair found that she missed Marcus so much it would have been difficult to put into words. She would always waken when she rolled over in her sleep to reach out for him and encountered only empty space. If he was in camp, she could usually go right back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that she would see him in a few hours or when he came back to their quarters. When he was out with a combat unit or performing some risky solo task for Connor, she tried to keep busy. Flying patrols, foraging duty, training other pilots, anything. It kept her from worrying too much if she had something to keep her mind occupied. Presently though, she was grounded and the foraging teams had already headed out.

She killed the time by driving her plane mechanic slightly insane. Watching over his shoulder as he worked, she peppered the harried man with questions. Anxious to get back into the air, she followed him around the body of the bird, occasionally becoming entangled with him as he tried to do his job.

Jeff Dooley liked Williams. He prided himself that he looked after all "his" pilots. Their chances of returning from any mission were fifty –fifty tops. Dooley liked to think the care he took in maintaining their aircraft tipped those odds in their favor. Plus, Williams always treated him decent. Some of the jet jockey's got an attitude, as if being an aerial warrior made them something special. But there were others, and Blair was one of them, who realized the skill of the mechanics helped keep them alive. Then too, William's husband, (Jeff was still on the fence about Marcus's humanity) always treated him pretty fair too, and he had to admit the guy was crazy good with a set of tools.

So he was giving it his all not to yell "Blair, could you please find somewhere else to be cause you're making me freakin' nuts!" right in her face. After he'd bumped into her for the twelfth time, however, his patience meter clicked to empty.

"Captain Williams" Dooley muttered thru gritted teeth "Do you think-"Jeff was saved before he had the chance to put his foot in anything.

"Blair" Billy Soames called for her attention from the opening of the large repair tent. "We finally heard from Major Perry's unit. They're coming back in. They took some heavy fire, and they've got wounded. Some of us are going out to intercept. You want to come along?"

Major David Perry's tech comm unit was the one Kyle Reese was attached to. It removed him from John Connor's direct command but still kept him close.

Instantly forgetting Dooley and the plane, Blair followed Soames out, leaving Jeff in peace at last. Vastly relieved, he grabbed a wrench and got back to work.

* * *

Kyle Reese studied the groaning man at his feet. The squad medic had done her best, but the injured man, only survivor of a vicious hunter-killer attack, was losing ground fast. If they didn't make it back to base soon or at least get some help, it didn't look too good for the guy. Kyle wished Kate were here. Maybe she couldn't have done much more for the wounded refugee than had already been done, but having John or Kate around always made things better for some reason. At least he felt like it did.

Reese was nervous and trying hard not to show it. He'd only been with Perry's unit for two months and was still getting used to the change. He had different duties now. Communications was still part of his responsibilities, but he was receiving more combat training. The kid had a rough skill, developed while he and Star were on their own in L.A., but Perry wanted to hone Kyle's experience at operating independently, without backup, and wanted him to expand his knowledge on weaponry and tactics. Connor's orders the Major told the young man. It was all a mystery to Kyle, but he did what he was told, hoping it would all eventually make sense. Kyle questioned the transfer to Perry's command at first, wondering if he'd done something to offend John Connor. Assured that was not the case, he'd relaxed some. So far, he'd learned a lot from David Perry, a former Green Beret, and he was slowly finding a place in his new unit. Kyle had managed to impress Perry in one respect, showing him how to mix a safer kind of plastique with the formula the curly haired Kyle learned from his chemical engineer father as a kid.

He still missed being able to spend more time around Marcus though. Being in the company of the erstwhile outlaw partway filled a void created by the early death of Kyle's dad. Reese knew there were people who still had reservations about Marcus, but he was not among them. He'd had a few uncertain moments after learning what Skynet had done to his friend, but they went away fast when Kyle remembered how Marcus put his own life on the line for him and Star more than once after just meeting them. Any questions that remained vanished when Wright volunteered his heart to keep Connor alive. That was the act of a man, not a machine.

"Movement ahead."

At notice from the forward scouts the team braced for another possible firefight. They'd taken a pretty good pounding earlier. The semi-conscious man Kyle was tending was far from their only casualty.

"On my left Reese" Dan Mitchell instructed Kyle.

The teenager took his assigned position, limbering up the Mark 16 CAR. He hunkered down, breathing deep and remembering the lessons he'd gotten from Marcus on how to use the weapon. That was something else he had to thank Wright for. His first intro to guns had come, of course, from his father, but Marcus's exhaustive grasp of firearms and their utilization was the master class. The next few minutes were pulse pounding tense, but everybody was able to relax once they realized the approaching force was not only human, but badly needed relief from their base. Bruised and bleeding, they made it home at last.

* * *

It began quietly, softly, almost benign.

"It's my head doc. It won't stop hurting. And my neck's killing me. It hurts when I try to turn it. Can't you give me something? Anything?"

Kate Connor hid growing alarm behind a mask of professional detachment. This was the third time today she'd listen to a similar sounding complaint from a patient. And maybe the tenth time in the last five days. And she wasn't the only one. Other members of her medical staff were reporting the same from those they treated. A few isolated cases didn't have to be cause for worry, but so many instances clustered together this way… she didn't like it at all. Body aches could be indicative of a minor ailment, or they could be a harbinger of something serious. Kate shook her head at the thought. With the level of care any medical personnel could provide severely compromised to say the least, it was all serious. A cold could be considered potentially fatal. Before Judgment Day, they couldn't cure a lot of things, but they could at least treat the symptoms. With the shortage of usable medicines these days, it was a struggle to do that. This rash of aching heads and sore necks scared her. What frightened her most was that Kyle Reese had been among those griping about a headache.

After verifying he was not allergic, she spared two tablets from their precious supply of painkillers for the man and sent him back to his quarters. Bed space in the infirmary was reserved for those too ill or hurt to get around on their own.

Kate went in search of Carol Simon. An epidemiologist before the war, Simon had been researching in South America when the nukes flew. After months of nearly dying numerous times, she'd finally made it back to California and eventually turned up at John Connor's base. A qualified doc of her caliber was like gold to the resistance. If the fear crawling slowly up her spine was about to be borne out, Kate knew having Dr. Simon around could become more important than ever.

Dr. Connor found Carol with a patient of her own, not another mystery headache, thankfully. Simon finished bandaging the child's sprained wrist.

"Hi" Kate greeted. "Got a minute?"

"Sure, we're done here" Carol Simon responded. "Make sure she doesn't take this off for few days. It needs to stay wrapped like this so it can heal" she said to the little girl's father. "If it starts to hurt, bring her back, ok?" Simon dismissed the father and daughter with slight smile.

"What do you need, Kate?" she asked pleasantly. Carol liked John Connor's better half. For someone whose education and experience had been in the treatment of animals, Kate had become damn good at doctoring humans.

Kate got right to the point. "How many patients have you had in the last few days complaining of a headache and or a sore neck?"

She could instantly tell that the question had struck a nerve. Simon's face tightened.

"Three, no four" Carol said. "I'm not sure what to make of it yet. So far, that's all it is. Just a nagging moderately bad headache and neck pain. No fever, no vomiting, no diarrhea, no other muscle aches. I've been trying to keep a watch but…" she trailed off with a shrug, the gesture an indication that she was as baffled as her fellow doctor.

Kate opened her mouth to reply but never got the words out.

"Kate! Somebody? Anybody, I need help!" It was Kyle's voice. Kate and Carol both dashed out to find the young man barely holding up under the weight of someone twice his size. With one of the man's arms draped around his neck, Reese huffed and puffed from the effort of trying to keep his burden from falling to the floor.

Both doctors rushed to assist. Between the three of them they managed to get the sick man on to a bed. It was Dan Mitchell, a soldier from Kyle's new unit. Ominously, he was also one of Kate's recent headache patients. Now he did have a fever, a bad one. Coughing and sweating profusely, Mitchell was incoherent. They'd barely managed to begin triage when he started convulsing. After a hectic few minutes, with Kyle watching anxiously, Dan Mitchell's body ceased to buck and jerk violently. The ill man was still, way too still for Reese.

"I…is…is he gonna be alright?" Mitchell's collapse reminded Kyle a bit too much of the way his own mother had suddenly taken ill and died in the rubble of Los Angeles despite all his father's most frantic efforts. That had been one of the worst days of Kyle's life. He was watching his family slowly disintegrating. First his brother Derek vanished, never to be seen again, now his mother's frighteningly quick decline. Kate's voice woke him out of his unpleasant reverie.

"He's alive, but he's not conscious. Kyle what happened?" Kate needed as much info as she could get.

"I…I…I don't know, I mean I'm not sure" Reese responded, feeling helpless. "I mean, he seemed mostly ok this morning when we were getting ready to go back out. He was saying his head and neck still hurt. I told him mine too. And he was coughing some, but not like he was a few minutes ago. The Major told us both to stand down. Get some rack time. It didn't help though. He just got to feeling worse and worse so he said he was gonna come see you. I told him I'd come with him. He was sweating buckets, having trouble walking. Then about halfway over, he went down hard. I managed to get him up and over here, but…" Kyle gave the most complete explanation he could, then stopped. He wasn't feeling so hot himself in the last couple of hours. He grabbed a nearby chair. Getting off his feet sounded like a good idea right about now. His chest hurt and it was getting harder to breathe.

Kate turned back to the more serious case, trying, with Carol Simon to diagnose Dan Mitchell. She figured Kyle would keep for now. A crash behind her alerted both docs. Kyle Reese lay on the floor, curled almost into a fetal position. Clammy and pale, he resisted Kate's efforts to help him. Before she could get him to unclench entirely, the convulsions began.

It took nearly twenty minutes to get him under control and medicated. Feverish and weak, he now rested fitfully in one of the precious infirmary beds.

Dr. Connor gathered her staff. She shook off her dread, aware there was no time to quail. The fight ahead of them could be as nasty as the one against the machines. They would need every bit of medical knowledge and grit they could find to win.

"Ok, let's start from the top. We have to get ahead of this, and we've got to do it right now" she began.

"Kate."

Kate turned at the sound of her name. Blair Williams stood unsteadily in the entrance.

"S..ssorry" Williams stuttered, "but I feel really lousy…"

* * *

The necessarily brief transmission ended, John Connor and his two companions settled on their haunches, each man attempting to order his thoughts. Kate's stark description left them stunned. With at least thirty confirmed cases and four deaths, the mysterious illness could prove to be as deadly as Skynet. His wife's coded admission that Kyle was among those stricken was a knife to Connor's bowels. Although he was destined to become John's father, the General had come to care about the young man almost as if he were a son. And Kyle's illness meant unspoken peril for John. He looked in to the faces of the others, finding his emotions mirrored in their eyes, particularly Marcus's. John Connor knew the complicated ex-felon considered Reese to be family, a sort of unintentional replacement for the brother Marcus's had lost pre-Judgment Day. As for Blair Williams...

"How do you want to handle this?" Marcus asked tightly. His wife was in jeopardy and he was far away from her, powerless to help. Marcus Wright didn't do powerless.

"We need to get back there" Connor answered definitively.

"We can't go in" Barnes objected reluctantly. "Kate said to stay away, they're under quarantine. We go against that, we might only make things worse." He hated to be the voice of reason, but spoke up anyway. Protecting John Connor was his job. He would do it even in the face of Connor's objections.

"You can't go there right now" Marcus returned, "but I can. I can't catch it, remember?"

"We don't know that, Marcus" John countered.

"Yes, we do!" Marcus said, a little heatedly. We all know Skynet made me immune to just about everything!"

Marcus usually hated with a passion having his differences pointed out. His normal method of dealing with the way the AI had irrevocably altered him was to not deal with it, to not dwell on it. That he would highlight the changes himself hinted at his degree of desperation. With Blair and Kyle ill he didn't care.

"You heard Kate! We, they, have no idea what this disease is! There's no way to know what immunity you or anyone else might have!" Connor snapped angrily. Those he loved were in danger too. He too felt helpless and didn't like it at all.

"Whatever this is, it's spreading fast! Do you really want to waste time arguing about it?" Marcus knew he could be very persuasive when he needed to be. In his time, he'd talked his way out of some pretty hairy situations. "Chances are almost a hundred percent I can't get sick! I never have, not once since I…woke up! Not even a sniffle or a cough! Nothing. My wounds, cuts and scrapes don't get infected. Injuries go away in a fraction of the time! I've got this wacked out super healing ability. I _don't_ have a normal circulatory system and the ultra efficient computer I carry in my head annihilates anything that so much as resembles a germ or bacteria! My organics can't be damaged! Come on Connor, you know I'm right!"

"What if you can't get sick but you can be a carrier?" Colonel Barnes contributed. He knew next to nothing about infectious diseases, but that much he remembered from his time dating a pretty Navy doctor back before the world blew up. Wonder if she made it, Barnes speculated briefly.

Wright scowled at him, but Barnes sloughed it off. It needed to be said, however much he didn't want to. Barnes liked Kyle Reese. Blair Williams too, even if she had inexplicably pledged her heart to someone the Colonel considered more machine than man.

"I'm willing to chance it!" Marcus rasped darkly. The notion of being able to be a carrier hadn't occurred to him and would not have mattered if it had. Blair needed him. Kyle too.

"I'm not!" Connor settled the discussion. He'd heard and understood the raw distress in Wright's voice, but held firm. He had to. "Not without talking to Kate one more time. We move position. Then we'll contact base again. Let's go."

* * *

"Kate, Marcus thinks he might be safe from this disease, that he can't catch it. I need to know what you think. Could Skynet have made him immune?"

Their second call to home base was made from the shelter of a small shock of mesquite lining the edge of a dry stream bed. How the trees survived in the absence of any visible water was anyone's guess, but maybe, Marcus thought, they were like humans, determined to hang on no matter what got thrown at them. He barely breathed, awaiting Kate Connor's answer.

"John, I, I just don't know. I… we can't say for sure. Marcus was created to blend in, to infiltrate; to be able to move among humans without arousing suspicion. Skynet had no real way of knowing how long it would be before he'd be able to get close enough to you to…" Kate seemed to remember that the "he" she was describing so clinically was listening in on the conversation. "You were made to be able to withstand almost anything Marcus" she went on, addressing Wright directly. "And possibly because it was meant for you to…continue with Skynet's, uh…general agenda, maybe John wasn't supposed to be your only target so…um…" She paused awkwardly, unsure of how get out what she was trying to say.

"Skynet would have given my organic components immunity to disease and degeneration so I could keep going, just like a terminator." Marcus finished for her baldly. Whatever it took to get to Blair he would do. If it meant hearing himself scripted as a machine assassin, so be it.

"Yes, I think so. It's…likely that you wouldn't be affected. But we have no way of knowing for sure. We don't even know for certain what we're facing. This…this thing has a lot of the symptoms of pneumonic plague, but not all of them. Coughing, fever, shortness of breath, but convulsions too, which aren't normally supposed to be a part of it… we just don't know what's going on yet. I can't guarantee anything John" Kate admitted to her husband.

"Can we take the chance?" Connor hated to press her, especially given the amount of stress he knew his physician spouse was already under, but sensed he had little choice. Not only had his wife and son been exposed, but there was also his position as leader of the resistance. More than Kate and Robby, every man, woman and child on that base was his responsibility. Birthed as a warrior, John knew all too well the incalculable value of good intel. He had to gain some sort of eyewitness regarding this invisible threat to his people. Marcus Wright might be his only way of doing that.

On the other hand, sending Marcus into the camp was a huge roll of the dice. Barnes could be entirely correct. What if Wright himself remained unaffected, but their microscopic foe was able to use him as a vehicle to infect others? And, John was reminded, Marcus's skin, brain and at least half of his nervous system were organic. There was no way to anticipate how the disease could exploit his vulnerable areas. The computer in Wright's brain, once the focus of so much suspicion and now an ally was a big point in Marcus's favor, but they were up against something new according to Kate. What if this organism was a thing even Skynet had planned no defense from? Would Marcus Wright's Skynet crafted properties be a sufficient counter-weight? Connor had almost none of what he needed most, information, but he still had to make a choice. Kate was unwilling to commit and make it for him. So John did what he had to, like always.

* * *

_Teddy Sullivan was famous. He didn't know it, but he was. If the charred world humans inherited following Skynet's genocidal strikes had possessed a red carpet, Teddy would have been entitled to walk it. Gettin' his strut on and flashing a mega watt smile to the crowds trapped behind the barricades. 'Cause ole Ted was something nobody else could claim to be. He was patient zero. The beginning ended with him. Kate Connor and her team didn't know it quite yet, but that was Teddy's claim to fame. The pestilence slowing wending its' way thru John Connor's headquarters, affecting one here and two there, methodically decimating the ranks of the resistance started with Teddy Sullivan._

_Maybe they were trying to help their brainchild be all it could be. Maybe they did it for giggles, or maybe they were just bored. Whatever the reason, at least one of Skynet's programmers enhanced it with many annuls of military conflict. Some bright young software genius, probably long since perished in the nuclear flameout, packed its' memory with much of the history of human aggression, strategy, tactics and maneuvers. Everything from when Cain bopped Abel over the head to __**"Automated War: Defense and Response" **__authored by none other than Lt. General Robert Brewster.  
_

_Skynet learned all about war. It learned of the rise and fall of empires, ancient battles, modern methods of killing, ambition and hubris, ego and megalomania. It learned of men such as Agamemnon, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and Hitler and of far different and better men like Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. _

_One lesson the AI absorbed particularly well was the recounting of something referred to as the "Trojan Horse." Buried within an epic poem called the __**Iliad**__ it told of a stratagem employed by a group of humans known as "Greeks" to gain dominance over a different group of humans calling themselves "Trojans." Playing on the Trojan's superstitions and piety, the Greeks, after many years of fruitless effort, gained entrance to the city of Troy by means of subterfuge, hidden within the hollow body of a titanic wooden horse. The unsuspecting Trojans drew it inside their otherwise unassailable walls, and with the drawing signed their own death warrants. _

_Teddy Sullivan was Skynet's Trojan horse. Taken with other prisoners by one of the supercomputer's huge harvester's, he'd expected to be killed. To be herded in an orderly fashion into one of the machine's disposal chambers, which many entered, but from which none emerged alive. _

_Instead, Teddy was forced into a single cell, culled from the herd, so to speak, and left alone, at least for a while. He had no idea why but maybe he'd gotten lucky. Maybe the resistance was wrong. Maybe the machines didn't kill all humans. Maybe some got left alive to be slaves or something. Teddy would settle for being a slave. It beat being dead all to hell as far as he was concerned. Not a resistance fighter, not really much of a fighter of any kind, he scraped by, staying down by day and only coming out at night to scrounge enough to stay alive. Why would the machines even bother with him, much less single him out? Unfortunately for Ted, the answer wasn't long in coming. _

_As he was contemplating the possible fates of those with whom he'd shared his confinement in the harvester, the door to his antiseptic prison cell slid soundlessly open. This was it, he figured. It was finally his turn to die. But dying quick wasn't in Teddy's stars. Skynet had something else in mind for him. Dragged to the lab, stripped naked and strapped down, Ted was too terrified to even speak. Then the machines started in on him and he realized those who'd died fast had been the lucky ones. Behind the heavy stainless steel door, Teddy Sullivan began to scream, and scream and scream. But no one heard him. _

* * *

Dr. Kate Connor wanted something she hadn't longed for since she was a child. She wanted her father. Kate wanted the hero of her childhood to put his arms around her, hold her tightly and reassure her that all would ultimately be well. Then she wished for him to go forth and slay her dragons, just like he'd seemed able to do when she was five.

But daddy wouldn't be riding to her rescue anymore. And John, her other anchor, was cut off from her for his own safety. Seeing Kyle Reese coughing up bloody sputum, Kate excused herself. Hurrying into the privacy of a deserted passageway, she tugged down her protective mask and rested her forehead against the cool metal support pole, eyes closed. Ashamed of the thought, she couldn't keep it out. What would happen to John if Kyle died? Would her husband be unaffected or would it be like some grotesque parody of a sci-fi movie? Would he fade away or simply disappear? Would anyone remember him or would it be like he'd never existed at all? Or maybe he would exist, but not be the man she or anyone else knew today.

What of Kyle's warnings to Sarah Connor thirty plus years prior? If John's mother had no advance warning of Skynet and the horrors to come, how might _she_ have reacted? Would the incredible woman Kate never had the chance to know have prepared her son for the critical role he was to play in humanity's constancy?

Considering Sarah's son made Kate think of her own. What about her beautiful baby? If her boys' father never was, would Robby be? Would she still have her child or would she never have known the awe of a life growing inside her?

The maelstrom of questions threatened to uproot her sanity like a Kansas twister. She gathered herself. She had to get back to her patients. First she'd need a fresh mask, gloves and gown. As with everything else, resources were limited, but with quarantine measures in place, such as they were, the less reuse the better.

The supply dump was set a bit apart from the main camp and there wasn't much order to it. Kate fished around and found a small penlight she kept in her pocket and waded into the mish-mash of boxes to find what she wanted. She directed the feeble light here and there. Gloves, got'em. Might as well grab a box of the things. Ditto on the masks and gowns. Everything not disposable would have to be sterilized later as best they could. She rummaged thru the shelves of supplies gathering the items she required. With only one small window to draw in light, the tiny room, little more than closet sized, was musty and dark.

She had gloves and masks in hand and was searching for the stack of gowns when a rustling sound in the murkiness made her spin around.

"Who's there? Who is that?" Kate barked, aiming the beam towards the sound. "Is somebody there? Come out right now!" she ordered, putting as much force into the command as she could.

Don't overact, she recited silently. It could be an animal, a rat or a raccoon, anything. Four legged creatures suffered along with every other living thing from Skynet's nuclear body slam, but without a planet full of humans to keep them in check, the small burrowing type animals had undergone a mini population explosion in the last several years. So it could be nothing more than a hungry critter looking for a meal.

Like everyone else in the resistance, Kate was almost always armed. Even when treating patients or up to her elbows in surgery, her weapon was never very far away. It was easy to ignore the dichotomy of being a healer prepared to kill. Machines weren't covered by the Hippocratic Oath.

How ironic, she sniffed. Here I am, Kate Connor, helpmeet to the Prophesied Leader of the Resistance, and I don't have so much as a rock to throw. No gun, no nuthin'. Her personal protection, a special design given to her by one of the armorers, was in her office, twenty feet from where the sick were currently being treated. She dropped her acquired supplies at her feet and looked around the dimness for a means of self defense, finally arming herself with an unused steel rod, wielding it like a baseball bat. Moving forward slowly, carefully placing one foot in front of the other, she crept towards where the sound had emanated from. There was only silence now. Maybe it was just an animal. That didn't necessarily mean it was all good. A cornered frightened animal wouldn't care that she meant it no harm. It could come flying out of the jumble of boxes teeth and claws, or fangs, bared for defense. Please don't let it be a snake, she pleaded mentally. In her vet days, long before Skynet and Judgment Day, snakes were her least favorite patients at Emery.

Or, it could be a person. Kate lived in the real world. Most of her fellow resistance was good troop, concentrated on killing machines and ending Skynet. She could count on them to have her back just like they could count on her for the same thing. But there were some, thankfully few, that she'd just as soon not spend too much time around. Especially in a poorly lit, isolated supply room. If that sound was made by one of them, she was on her own. She took one more step, and then kicked the box in front of her left foot hard.

"I said come out of there! Now! Don't make me drag you out!" Kate tried to sound tough and angry, her mind busy recalling some of the hand to hand lessons she'd received from John.

There was more muffled shuffling in response to her cross demand, but nothing more. Fine, she thought, have it your way, 'cause here I come.

She hefted the pipe high with one hand and lunged forward, tossing aside the large cardboard box, lightly loaded fortunately, to confront her potential enemy. She stopped suddenly, nearly wrenching her shoulder out of the socket to arrest her forward motion. Expecting anything from a pissed off viper to a human being up to no good, what she saw instead was one seriously terrified little girl.

Wide eyed and shaking slightly, Star, tucked into a crouch, gazed up at the spectacle of a riled Kate Connor. Tiny fists clutched to her chest protectively, the youngster had the shell shocked look of someone expecting the worst.

Belatedly, Kate dropped her makeshift weapon, reaching down to help the child out of the grimy corner. Hugging the little girl briefly, the doctor knelt to Star's eye level.

"Star what are you doing in here? Why are you hiding here by yourself! Sweetie, it isn't safe for you to be off alone like this! Especially here, where no one would know! What are you doing in here?" She asked again.

In all the months Kate, John and the rest had known her, Star still had yet to utter a single word. Using her own unique method of communication, an odd combo of sign language and hand signals, Star answered, haltingly. It took a little time, but gradually, with a certain amount of coaxing, Kate came to understand the problem.

Born after the trauma of Judgment Day, Star had only the dimmest recollections of her parents and older brother. Vague, hazy memories of a weary, despondent couple trying to protect and raise two young children in a world bent on their destruction. There was not enough for her to hold on to, so when they were no more, when one day they did not return from going to look for food for her and her brother, the dazed and confused children moved on. Then her brother was gone and Star was alone. She wandered for days, barely able to remember the lessons from her mother on how to find food. She was small enough to find hiding places, able to evade the scrutiny of the machines her parents had always warned would kill her. Her days and nights held unceasing terrors. With no one to talk to, she never spoke. At night, after long hours of scrounging thru piles of refuse for food, exhausted, she softly cried herself to sleep knowing the next day would be no different.

That's when Kyle found her. Spotted by an aerostat, which had alerted the terminator nearby, Star was in the machine's sights when Kyle Reese had quite literally come swooping out of nowhere to scoop her up, saving her life. Taking charge of the orphaned little girl, Kyle became her family, making sure she had food, clothes, shelter and protection. He'd taught her tricks to fight back against the machines too. It was still a tough life, but with someone to look out for her, Star felt safe again.

After that, she and Kyle met the compact, quiet Marcus. Star instantly recognized the security he represented. At first, when he'd yelled at her when she was sitting in the Jeep, she'd been frightened, but the more she was around him the easier it was to tell what he was really like. If Kyle had become her brother, the brooding, brusque Marcus was like her daddy. The metal underneath his skin didn't scare her. Unlike the adults, she knew enough to look past that. Grownups were kind of slow about some things. Star instinctively understood he would protect her against any danger no matter the cost. Sometimes, when he thought no one would notice, he'd give her a wink and a crooked grin or tug her ever present cap down over her eyes, causing her to giggle noiselessly. Star's relief when Marcus did not die after his heart donation was so big she danced around with happiness for days afterward.

Star liked the beautiful, confident Blair Williams too. Assured, capable and fierce, Blair seemed unafraid of anything. She reminded Star of the pictures of the large animals Star saw in some of the books that grownups told her were called "lionesses." The big cats, they said, would defend their young and their territory from all comers. At the same time, their devotion to those they cared for was intense and never ending. Blair was like that. Star could feel the love between Blair and Marcus when they were in the same place so strong she could almost reach out and touch it. For some reason, the pilot had chosen to adopt Kyle and Star almost as if they were her children. Star didn't understand it totally, but she was glad. She had a whole family again.

But now Kyle was sick and Blair too and Star could tell that Kate and the other doctors weren't sure how to fix them. Her only remaining comfort, Marcus, was gone and Star had no idea if or when he would return. She'd already been cheated of one family, was she about to lose another?

All Kate could do for now was hold the child comforting her with a mother's touch. After several minutes, she straightened, looking Star in the eye again.

"We have to keep fighting. We can't give up. We're going to make Blair and Kyle well. We will win this! We have to! There's no other choice. And Marcus will be able to come home soon, you'll see. I promise. In the mean time, you have to go stay with the others who haven't gotten sick, okay? I don't want you to get sick too. Come on, let's get up off this nasty floor, huh?" She gave Star a smile of encouragement. Remembering what she'd originally come for, she got her supplies together and then she and Star headed away from the supply dump and back to the main camp.

"Kate!" It was Carol Simon, yelling for her attention.

"I'm glad I finally found you! Where'd you go? We've been looking all over for you!" Carol panted slightly from exertion.

"Why, what's happened? Has something else gone wrong? What is it? What's the problem?" Kate asked, dreading the reply.

"Well, I'm not sure it is a problem, but there's been a development. Follow me." Simon turned and headed back towards the medical bays.

Kate shifted her attention briefly to Star. The child couldn't go with her to medical. The quarantine had to remain in place as much as possible.

"Star, I want you to go and find Abby" she said, referring to the elderly woman Marcus, Star and Kyle had encountered before meeting Connor and the resistance. Captured by a harvester, she been among the prisoners freed by John Connor's attack on Skynet's San Francisco facility.

With that, Kate followed after Carol Simon. What exactly had transpired in her absence? Moving at almost a run, she made it to medical, freezing suddenly in the doorway at the unexpected sight which greeted her. She was startled by motion behind her. It took a few seconds, but Kate eventually realized the blurred jumble of color that nearly knocked her over was Star, who instead of obeying Kate's instruction to find Abby had trailed the two physicians.

In a rush of soundless joy, Star sped past Kate to throw her arms around the waist of the new arrival, hugging with all her might.

Marcus Wright had returned.

**Author's note: See you next chapter. As always, constructive reviews are requested and welcome. Thanks. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Here we go again. I have absolutely no claim or interest in any of the Terminator characters or the franchise. Original characters are mine. Now that's done all nice and legal. Let's get to chapter 3. **

Viral-Chapter 3

What Just Happened?

Peeling the ecstatic Star's arms from around his mid-section, Marcus picked the child up easily. Immediately she threw her arms round his neck. For such a small person, Star had a substantial grip.

"Hey kid, ya didn't miss me, did ya?" Marcus asked hoarsely, half choked by his enthusiastic welcome home. He loosened Star's hold, yanking gently on a pigtail. (Someone on the base had bravely accepted the task of regularly taming the little girl's mane of unruly hair.)

"I'm glad to see you too" he told her, setting her down to stand on the floor.

As if she craved the physical connection, Star enveloped one of Marcus's hands in both of hers, sticking as close to him as possible.

"Marcus, how… why… what are you doing here?!" Kate asked exasperated. "I told John we couldn't be sure it was safe for any of you to come back in!"

"I know Kate. I was there, remember? Connor made the call. He needs an eye's on account of what's going on. We talked it over, me and Connor and Barnes. We decided it was worth the risk. You said it yourself. Skynet didn't just put me together for a one time hit. I was built to blend in, to last. It's why I can eat and drink what everyone else does. My body absorbs what I need for what isn't machine and burns up the rest. Any germ that I'm exposed to gets its' ass kicked by my computer and the immune system Skynet gave my organics. I'm probably safer than any of you."

He asked Star to go and find Abby. Reluctantly, after he promised to come and see about her later, she complied.

As he spoke, Marcus scanned the room, filled with suffering patients. At last he located Blair, her long dark hair spilling out over the pillow. She was still, so unlike her. "Kate, please!"

Kate hesitated for a moment longer, at last yielding to the anguish in Marcus's voice. He was here. There would be no chance he'd be kept from Blair's side for long anyway. She made him get masked, gowned and gloved, and then moved so he could pass and get to the woman he loved.

Speaking to his retreating back, she called out "Marcus, where is John!?"

"He's alright. He's a safe as he would be if he were here. He and Barnes are with the Chiricahua in the mountains in Arizona. I made sure they were tucked up before I left 'em. He'll stay there until you contact him and tell its' safe. I'd like to see Skynet try and get to him there" Wright reassured the anxious Kate before returning his attention to Blair.

Skynet's assault on humans resulted in a host of side effects. One of which was the collapse of any form of nation state over most of the globe, including the former United States. With the government no more, many of the surviving members of the U.S.'s Native American populations moved to repossess their traditional homelands from both Skynet and anyone else who might think to give them grief on the subject. By their count, it was the white eyes turn to suck it.

For the Chiricahua that meant they intended to see a good portion of Arizona and New Mexico returned to them. Skynet, of course, viewed them as just more biological infestation to be cleansed. Unsurprisingly, it sent in H-K's and terminators to eliminate the Apache, thinking they would be no more of a challenge than any of the other foes it faced.

It thought wrong. Reviving many of the same tactics that bedeviled the U.S. military in the 1800's, and also making up a few new ones, the inheritors of Cochise preceded to introduce Skynet to _their_ version of guerilla warfare. It was an eye opening lesson for both the AI and other resistance forces, including Connor's. Many of Skynet's tools went into the mountains in pursuit of the Apache. Not many came out. The machines vanished, as if swallowed up by the ground. When Skynet determined to pursue the hit and run fighters in force, they would simply dissolve into the surrounding terrain, leaving the terminators and their advanced technology to wander in circles, doing the machine equivalent of "duh?" As was the case with its archenemy John Connor, Skynet was often flummoxed in a very non-biological sort of way, by the unpredictability. All the programming in the universe could not assist the supercomputer in fighting a people who refused to stay within the confines of its calculations. Connor had met with their reps more than once, discussing strategies and merging of resources.

Marcus was probably right, Kate accepted. John was as safe as he could be outside of home base, at least for now. She left medical, headed for the comm unit.

* * *

Taking her unresponsive hand in his, Marcus leaned over the sleeping form of his stricken wife. As best he could thru the sterile mask covering his face, he deposited the softest of kisses on her mouth. Marcus's lips were as natural and living as the rest of his skin, but they were different in one respect. They held extra-sensory capability. The protective covering over his face presented no impediment to him now. His tongue was more sensitive, able to analyze whatever touched it for more than taste. In the same way, his lips could go beyond the merely tactile. He possessed no thermal imaging capability like the terminators, but he could accurately deduce the temperature of whatever his lips came in to contact with to within a one hundredth of a degree the nanosecond that contact was made.

He gauged Blair's body temp at 35 Celsius. That put her at 95.6 on the old Fahrenheit scale. She was too cold. During his career as a bank robber, Marcus got pretty good at digging out the occasional slug when somebody in the crew got hit. He could doctor a wound well enough to keep one of his people from bleeding out. That was it for his medical knowledge. But as brief the contact with his love was, he knew she needed to be warmed up and fast. Acting on instinct, he checked to see the medics were busy elsewhere. Good, he didn't need them freaking out and getting in his way. Very gradually, he increased his own body's heat output as much as he could stand. When his skin would have been alarmingly hot to anyone else he took Blair in his arms, pressing her as close to him as he could without causing her injury. After a few minutes, he eased her carefully back down on to the bed and ordered his temperature back to normal.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The voice behind him belonged to Carol Simon. Marcus had never cared much for Dr. Simon. She was a researcher at heart, and the vibe he picked up from her was that she'd like nothing more than to research _him_. He didn't really think she had any malevolent intent, but he did believe she'd very much enjoy seeing him butterflied on a lab table. The itching curiosity he saw in her eyes when she looked at him made him both uncomfortable and angry.

"I'm taking care of my wife" he answered shortly. Dismissing Simon, Wright bent over Blair, placing his face over hers so they were forehead to forehead. If he'd been able, (Skynet left out the tear ducts), he'd have wept with relief. She was definitely warmer, by at least five degrees. That had to be a good thing, right?

Brushing past him with a suspicious look, Carol Simon grabbed the digital thermometer, checking her patient's temperature. She appeared almost disappointed to receive a reading of 38 Celsius.

"You shouldn't have done that! You could have hurt her!" the doctor griped in an accusing tone.

"I'd never do anything to hurt Blair" Marcus growled. Still holding Blair's hand, he stood, exuding hostility.

Carol blinked, sensing she'd violated an invisible boundary. As bizarre as their coupling was, to Simon's way of thinking, the Wright/Williams marriage was as real as any other. This…man had the same concerns as any other worried spouse.

She would never admit it out loud, not even to Kate Connor, but Blair Williams' husband was right on the money about how badly Dr. Simon wanted to get a good look at what made him tick. She longed to obtain permission she knew she'd never get from John Connor to turn Marcus Wright "off", split him open and examine his inner workings and biological content one millimeter at a time. It was an incredible research opportunity and there were not many of those to be had in the survivalist world they all now lived in. Being forced to forego it galled her.

"I, I, I didn't mean to imply… that is I…of…of course you would never hurt her" Simon stammered, backing away from the infuriated Marcus. "It's only that-"Carol faltered, fumbling for words. Anything she said would probably aggravate him more, the last thing she wanted to do.

"It's only that what?" Marcus countered derisively, eyes narrowed. He forced himself to calm down. He might not like Dr. Simon, but she was treating his wife and Kyle and the other sick resistance fighters. He'd have to power past his distaste for the woman and deal with her.

The physician in Carol Simon entered the conversation. "It's… I was concerned because her condition is so precarious, and also, I'm a little tired. I guess I overreacted. I'm…sorry" she apologized awkwardly.

Take a deep breath Marcus, he admonished himself sternly. This wasn't about him. He nodded once to signal his acceptance of the forced sounding apology.

"Carol, Marcus, what's going on? Has Blair's condition changed?"

Kate Connor was returned from contacting her far away husband. Despite Marcus's insistence that John was sufficiently protected Kate wanted to make sure personally. She'd spent the last fifteen minutes talking to him over a shielded connection. His Chiricahua resistance hosts were taking good care of him and Colonel Barnes, Connor told his wife. She had only to let him know when it was clear for them to return and he would be home.

"Everything is…that is nothing's changed" Dr. Simon spoke up. "Well, that's not entirely accurate. Actually, I think thanks to Marcus, her condition's slightly improved. Her temperature's up to about 100 Fahrenheit."

"What?!" Kate responded, surprised. "It is? Are you sure? Never mind, of course you are." Kate fixed Marcus with a wondering, inquisitive look. "How? What did you do?" she quizzed.

"You know I have the ability to alter my own body temp. When I kissed Blair, she was so…she was freezing, Kate. I didn't think, only reacted. She needed heat, so I gave her some of mine" Marcus explained to the pair of docs, not caring what they thought. He wanted it to work and that was all he cared about.

"It did work, right?" Marcus needed verbal confirmation from someone he trusted.

"Yes, yes it did. Her temperature is at 100.4. I can't tell you she's out of the woods. We'll have to see if she stays warmed up, and her body's still fighting the illness, but fever might actually help. A fever could force her body's immune system into a higher gear" Kate told him after checking Blair again. She noted the undisguised gratitude in Wright's eyes at her reply. She kept getting these little reminders from time to time that somewhere inside Marcus, a man still existed.

"How did you…whatever made you think of trying something like that?" Kate asked him.

"When Sam and I, when my brother and I were little my mother would warm us up instead of cooling us off when we were sick. She said heat makes the germs want to be somewhere else. Once she even covered Sam with a blanket she'd taken out of the oven. It helped us, so…so I figured…" Marcus shrugged.

"You had a brother?" Simon put in. She wished she hadn't heard that. Hearing about Wright's past life, that he'd once had a sibling humanized him, made him seem as normal as anyone else. She didn't want that. Like many others on the base, she was happier thinking of him as a machine.

Marcus gave her an eye rolling glare then looked away without speaking. Screw you, you irritating cow. He kissed Blair gently again, then tucked the hand he was holding under her blankets.

"Kate, what about Kyle? Where is he? How bad is it?" He didn't want to leave his wife, but he was concerned about Kyle Reese too.

"Not good" Kate responded, hardly above a whisper. "He's holding on, but not by much. I…you need to come and see." A sudden wild hope took root in Kate.

"Marcus, Kyle is like Blair was, too cold. We're struggling to keep him out of hypothermia. Do you think you can do the same thing for him that you did to Blair?"

"Take me to him" Marcus insisted.

Kate scarcely dared to breathe. She hoped this would buy them some badly needed time. The ramifications for John, for all of them if it did not was something she couldn't bear to contemplate. This disease had them baffled. It started out with symptoms that mimicked pneumonic plague, but soon switched gears to something unrecognizable. Fever, neck pain, convulsions, coughing and respiratory difficulties gave way to a drastic drop in body temp and loss of almost all muscle control followed by hypothermia, coma and death. If Kate and her medical team tried one thing, the disease would manifest on another deadly track. It affected everyone it hit differently. Some of those taken ill, like Dan Mitchell, died quickly. Others, like Blair and Kyle hung on, clinging ferociously to life. But it was probably only a matter of time for them too. This unknown killer allowed almost no quarter.

Kyle Reese's mop of red hair popped in stark contrast against the paleness of his skin as Wright and Kate approached the bedside. Like Blair, the young man's stillness seemed alien to Marcus. Given that his initial introduction to Kyle had been in the form of a full body tackle and Kyle had rarely stopped moving since, this total lack of animation was unnerving.

Prepared by the warning from Kate, Marcus was still shocked by how cool Kyle was to the touch. It wasn't severe yet, but it was headed that way. Marcus grabbed both Kyle's hands in his and turned up the heat. Because Reese was colder, the process took longer, but it worked just as it had with Blair. Soon enough Kyle was at 38.4Celsius. The kid needed the extra boost in body temp, Kate informed Marcus.

"He looks better" Wright remarked to Kate, "more color in his face." When she didn't answer he took a quick glance over his shoulder to find out why.

With her back to him, Kate Connor had both gloved hands over her mouth. Surprised, Marcus realized she was weeping quietly. He stood perplexed for a few seconds, not certain how to respond. How was he supposed to handle this? Marcus could remember seeing Kate happy, angry and icily contemptuous. But crying? What was he supposed to do with that? Blair crying was a lot easier. The one time his wife had broken down in front of him after the death of a fellow pilot and wept he'd taken her in his arms and held her until the storm passed. But holding Kate? He sure couldn't do that, could he? Should he just pretend he hadn't noticed or what? And why was she crying? Kyle's condition was better, not worse. What did she have to cry about? Then it hit him. Of course, that had to be it. He remembered…

_Chained like a prisoner in a medieval dungeon, Marcus hung bare-chested and barefoot over the gaping blackness. Disoriented and weakened, the raw hatred in the eyes of his captors disconcerted him further. The last time he'd been the object of hate that powerful, he'd been strapped to a gurney at Longview, seconds from his death. But these strangers, what had he done to them that they should feel such overwhelming rage towards him? And this man John Connor. Marcus could feel the animosity coming off him in waves. Why? It made no sense. His protestations of ignorance of any wrongdoing were met with the highest degree of scornful disbelief. Then Connor freed Marcus's head from the chain and Wright took in the full horror what he'd become. His mind tilted. Only recalling the familiarity of the voice of the man in front of him brought Marcus back to some semblance of sanity. _

"_I know you. I heard your voice on the radio" he'd managed. "You're John Connor."_

"_Of course you know me" Connor answered coldly. "You were sent here to kill me, to kill the leadership."_

_Marcus's denials went unheeded. _

"…_You and me" Conner snarled, his face two inches from Marcus's, "we've been at war since before either of us existed. You tried killing my mother, Sarah Connor. You killed my father, Kyle Reese. You will __**not**__ kill me…"_

So much time had passed since the surreal encounter that Marcus had shoved the memory into a neglected corner of his mind. Somehow, Wright couldn't begin to divine the specifics, Kyle Reese would one day become the father of Kate Connor's husband. Given that Connor was already here and a grown man and the Kyle Marcus knew still in his teens and no one's father as of yet, the process would have to involve some form of time travel. Why not? He had metal bones and a computer in his brain and a power cell where his heart used to be, so the word "impossible" was elastic for him these days. Kyle would eventually meet Connor's mother Sarah and their union would produce a son foretold to stand at the crux of human survival. But that was future time, or maybe past time. In the present, Kyle was deathly ill, his own life hanging by the slenderest of threads. If Kyle died now, before his trip to the past, before John Connor was conceived…

Caught in the triple vice of being Kyle Reese's doctor, John Connor's wife and the mother of Connor's son, Kate must be feeling a crushing amount of pressure. They'd never have more than an arm's length relationship, but in that moment Marcus experienced a sneaking admiration for the titan haired doctor's ability to keep moving forward.

He turned back to Kyle, giving Kate as much privacy as he could to get her head together.

"Kate, he's doing better" Marcus said after a short pause," and I really want to get back to Blair."

Kate cleared, shifting back into her physician's persona.

"Yes, of course. Let me give Kyle one last check." She did, afterward alerting a medic so the man could resume monitoring Reese.

"Marcus, I know how much you want to be with Blair. I understand that. But we have so many others who are …Marcus hypothermia is the beginning of the final stages with this thing. The temp drop is a signal that the patient may be moving into the terminal phase of the disease. From there it's only a matter of twelve to twenty-four hours before we lose them. Do you think that you could…would you? I know I have no right to ask it of you, but it might save some lives. If we can get them to hold on long enough..."

Marcus's jaw clenched. He wanted to refuse Kate's request and get straight back to Blair. He wanted to hold his wife, stroke her hair and find a way to imbue her with his strength. Every moment away from her felt like a moment lost. The candid pleading in Kate Connor's ice blue eyes prevented him, as did Blair's unseen presence by his side. She'd once insisted, over his objections, that he _was_ a good guy, he just didn't know it yet. With Blair's faith in him in mind, he'd been trying to live up to that, not always successfully, but trying. And there was one other reason. In his life after Longview, he'd given his word to Sam and the two dead Texas Rangers that this Marcus would be different, better. The old Marcus might have been a thief with blood on his hands, but one thing he'd never been in any of his lives was a liar.

"Where do you want me to start?" he asked Kate.

* * *

It was making a difference. Marcus could tell that before he ever spoke to Kate. But it was still good to hear her say it. Hearing the words made it real for him.

"It's slowing down. I'm not sure for how long, but it's slowing down. Getting them warmer, it's retarding the spread of the virus. Fever hasn't arrested the sickness entirely but there's a definite slow down. Everybody you've warmed up seems to be maintaining a temperature of 100 Fahrenheit or more. The elevation, I think your mother may have been on to something. I think it makes the germs want to be somewhere else. Or at least it's robbing them of some of their punch. I wish I could say it's going to last, but Blair, Kyle, all of them, there's improvement. They're not out of danger but we have more time. Maybe as much as forty-eight hours more."

You hear that, Norah? Marcus silently communed with the memory of his murdered mother. You were right. Heat knocked this bugger back on its heels. It didn't kill it, not so far, but Blair, Kyle and the rest they had more of a fighting chance. Forty-eight hours. Two days. The slimmest of margins, but Marcus would take what he could get. Every second he could wrest away from death on Blair's behalf he would fight and claw for.

"There are only two more, then, then you can go be with Blair" Kate told him. Her voice held a tentative note, as if she understood his impatience. "Only these two more, I promise."

Marcus ground his teeth together. Not an easy promise to keep big brother, remember? Sam's ghost prodded him. Marcus imagined the cock-eyed grin on Sammy's face. He swallowed his reluctance.

"Which way?" he questioned.

Relieved, Kate started off in the direction of the final two patients, a mother and daughter, both of whom had come down with the sickness in the last twenty-four hours. Kate wanted him to help the mother first, the more seriously ill of the pair. Marcus flashed with recognition. Lt. Meredith Tallman. Tallman and her husband Fred belonged to what Marcus acidly referred to as the Marcus Wright Fan Club. There were some resistance fighters on the base who'd always refuse to see him as anything other than a machine, no matter what he did. Never attempting anything overt, they were careful to stay under John Connor's radar, but they were vocal enough in their dislike of Marcus. For the sake of those he cared about, Marcus mostly kept his cool. He tried to remember the hell these people had endured and still did at the hands of the machines and Skynet, but sometimes the temptation to answer insult with injury was consuming. Good one, little brother, he threw out to Sam. You're really bringing it, aren't you?

To his annoyance, Dr. Simon was already there, attending to another patient.

In a by now familiar procedure, Marcus grasped both the woman's hands firmly and gave his computer the go ahead. He could feel his body getting warmer, and the heat beginning to transfer to his…patient? Once she'd gone from chill to feverish, he released her, turning to her teen aged daughter in the next bed.

The girl took less time than her mother. After she'd been aided, Wright stood by the young woman's side, feeling drained. He'd repeated this action with about forty people in all. His systems and abilities might be juiced courtesy of Skynet, but there were limits for him too. What he desired most right now was to wrap Blair in his embrace, let her feel his presence and wait for her beautiful eyes to open. He sagged wearily.

"Get away from her you prick!"

The shots took Marcus in the shoulder and back, staggering him. Blood spurted. He dodged the next rounds, keeping himself protectively between Kate and the rapidly advancing shooter.

As Marcus managed to knock the gun from his hand, Fred Tallman slammed into Marcus at linebacker speed, stabbing at his surprised victim, raving. Knocked off balance, Wright dodged the slashing strokes, stumbling backward to avoid the savage assault.

Armed with a serrated combat knife, Tallman screamed, continuing the attack. "Don't you touch my daughter! Get away from her! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Marcus shouted, backing away from his assailant. Floundering, Marcus bumbled into Kate, who had been standing next to him at Erin Tallman's bedside, verifying her patient's upgraded condition. They both went down, and Kate rolled, closely avoiding becoming trapped beneath Marcus Wright's considerable weight. Scrambling to her knees, she bumped a nearby cart laden with medical supplies and it overturned noisily, adding itself to the growing melee.

Marcus threw up his right arm to block the downward path of Tallman's blade, engendering a series of grisly gashes. Hissing in pain he tried to clamber to his feet, slipped in his own blood and went down again. He could hear Kate yelling something, but in the chaos, couldn't make anything out.

Tallman took advantage of Marcus's indisposition. Another swipe caught his target across the forehead just below the healing wound left from his fight with the terminator. Blood poured into Wright's eyes, obscuring his vision, stinging.

"Aaahhhhh!" Marcus, still on the floor, recovered from the suddenness of the onslaught, twisted left and lashed out with his right leg. This time he connected.

Fred Tallman yelped shrilly as Marcus's foot collided with his groin, folding up like the bellows of a pipe organ abruptly deprived of air. Loosed of his brain's control, Fred's fingers opened, the knife tumbled from his hand. Bent over in agony, Tallman's face came within range. Marcus punched him and Tallman crumpled, offensively finished.

Too bad for Marcus, the man who'd just tried to knife him landed across Marcus's legs, effectively pinning Wright to the painted concrete surface. Marcus, wriggling to free himself, turned his head to see the knife covered with his own blood scant inches from his moaning would be killer's hand. He reached out and took possession of the blade, reckoning it'd probably be better off in his hands than Tallman's. He laboriously climbed to his feet, wiping blood from his eyes. He was searching for the man's sidearm when the tent's entrance flew open.

Kate's cries combined with the sound of gunfire to yield quite a response. Arriving on the run, armed personnel raced into medical. To a man or woman, they lived a hair-trigger life. Any moment, any battle, any day might be their last one. Prepared for a fight, adrenaline flooding their systems, some of 'em might claim an excuse for the way they reacted to the scene that greeted them. There were a few Fan Club members, however, who viewed it as the chance they'd been waiting for.

They saw Kate Connor yelling for help, Captain Tallman semi-conscious on the floor and Marcus Wright standing over both of them holding a dripping knife.

"Damn machine!" someone yelled, "I knew sooner or later you'd show everybody what you really are! You murdering monster!" The words were accompanied by the throaty **poppoppoppoppoppop! **of a heavy caliber handgun.

Doctors and medics had thrown themselves protectively over what patients they could, forming human shields. Marcus ducked, dropping the knife and hitting the floor as the slugs ripped holes in the fabric of the tent walls where his head had been a fraction of a second before. He surveyed the group, trying frantically to locate the shooter from his semi-prone position.

The mob rush forward. "Kill that damn thing before it can hurt anyone else!" a different voice roared. Several more shots flew in Marcus's direction, only a couple finding their mark, one in the leg, the other in his already wounded right shoulder. He issued a stifled groan and lunged for Fred Tallman's discarded Thunder .50 BMG.

"No! Marcus, don't! Please, no!" Kate leapt forward, placing herself between Wright and the rest of the mostly misguided resistance fighters. She grabbed his arm, shaking her head urgently.

"Hold fire! HOLD FIRE!" She yelled at his antagonists in the same voice she used when communicating in the middle of a battle. With John Connor's wife in their line of sight, shooting stopped. Almost nobody wanted to risk hitting Kate.

One of Meredith Tallman's squad mates did though, spotting a clear shot around Kate and drawing a bead on Marcus. Against Kate's orders, the shotgun in his hands belched a cannonade just as Billy Soames arriving from the far side of the base, got in the way.

"Marcus!" He yelled, diving forward. Catching Marcus across the knees, he knocked both Wright and Kate to the floor again. The buckshot missed Marcus, but partially caught his foster brother painfully in one leg.

"Uuuuaaaahhhh!" Soames yelled slumping as he clutched the injured limb, moaning in pain. Marcus scrambled to his side. He threw a hot glare at Billy's assailant.

"You bastards!" He rumbled, ripping a sheet from a nearby cot to wrap around the bloody leg.

Clawing her way to her feet, red hair haloing her face, Kate boomed "Stop this! Stop! What the hell are you people doing?! Are you insane?! Shooting up my infirmary?! Are you all crazy?!" Kate's fury stunned the would be vigilantes. "You could have killed these patients! You could have killed Marcus! Hell, you could have killed me!" Kate berated them, livid.

"Kate that thing-!"

The speaker, lost in the throng, got cut off fast by the hopping mad Kate.

"His name" Kate gritted thru clenched teeth, "is Marcus Wright. Get that straight! What do you all think you're doing coming in here trying to kill him?!"

"He killed Fred! He was coming for you! We all saw it! Why are you protecting him?!" Tallman's unit lead asked, outraged.

Kate shoved people out of her way until she was in the man's face. "Fred isn't dead you ass! And if he was, he started this! He came in here and tried to kill Marcus without any provocation whatsoever _after_ Marcus just probably helped save his wife and daughter's lives!" Kate's anger threatened to boil over.

"But, but, but we…I… I saw…!"

"Shut up!" Kate snapped, beginning to regain her composure. "You have no idea what you saw. You came running in here with your manhood all whipped out, put two and two together and came up with five! Put those weapons away! Now!" she commanded.

Glassy-eyed, Fred Tallman huffed and hauled himself to his hands and knees.

Kate whirled, turning on him. "Get him out of here. He goes to the stockade for now!"

Guards moved to grab the wobbly Tallman.

"But Kate-!"

"Don't you 'but Kate' me!" she spun around again, focusing on the main group. "Marcus wasn't hurting anyone. He was helping! Most of the ones taken ill were hypothermic. Marcus is able to regulate his body heat. He helped us warm them up! It gives us some more time to come up with a way to fight this virus! Fred here didn't even bother to find out the truth! Like you he saw what he wanted to see and opened fire! In a medical ward filled with helpless invalids. That's inexcusable! And you're all breaking quarantine! The only reason I don't confine you all is because we don't have the room! NOW OUT!"

Slowly, still absorbing Kate's words, the diffused assembly filed out, chastened.

Kate fumed. Idiots! Now on top of everything else, there were fresh wounded to treat!

"I got this Kate" Dave Simmons, one of her field medics stepped forward. Together with another man, they carried Billy Soames off to have his leg treated after reassuring the anxious Marcus it wasn't a life threatening wound.

Kate turned her attention to Marcus. He was panting, covered in blood and still keyed up.

"I, I'm sorry" she told him, "That was…" Kate appeared to be at a loss for a sensible explanation. "That was stupid. Um, why don't I hold on to this for now? " the doctor requested, gingerly easing the .50 cal from Wright's tense fingers. He'd automatically scooped up the weapon after Billy was taken away. Marcus said nothing, not meeting Kate's eyes. He wiped at the blood oozing from the cut on his forehead.

"Uh, we need to get you patched up" Kate prompted.

Metal glinted thru the deep wound. Marcus knocked Kate's probing fingers aside, turning his head away, still silent.

Carefully, uncertain what to make of his mood, Kate gripped Wright's chin in her hand, turning his face back toward her. "We have to get you bandaged. I could use a little cooperation here."

"Why bother?" Marcus sneered. "We both know the machine is self-healing. You don't have to worry about it. Just let me get back to Blair!"

"You want to go in there bleeding all over her? Do you? What do you want me to say, Marcus? Resistance soldiers aren't immune to DAS" Kate advised, shrewdly determining how to short circuit his pity party.

"What are you talking about Kate? What the hell is DAS?"

"According to my father" she made him wait for it "detached asshole syndrome" Kate answered with a totally straight face.

In spite of everything, Marcus managed a sore laugh. "Fine. Just don't make me look like an extra in some bad mummy movie"

"Mummy movie?" Kate repeated. "Come on Marcus, that all you got?"

Marcus laughed again, this time a bit more genuinely. "I just went from helping sick people to getting attacked by half the base to listening to my doctor do stand up. I'm a little off my game" he retorted.

"Fair enough. Come with me" Kate told him. "Let's get you cleaned up so you can go see your wife and I can get back to work. Why are you limping?" she finally thought to ask. That wasn't the leg he'd been shot in.

"Long story" Marcus answered as he followed her out.

* * *

"Kate, how and when did all of this get started, I mean, with so many people getting sick? There wasn't any sign of it when we left. Connor never would have gone if there were."

Marcus sat passively enduring the mild sting as Kate bandaged the cuts on his arm and forehead. She'd kept to his wishes, cleaning and dressing the lacerations, but since she knew they'd close without any assistance, left off from using any hard to come by suturing materials.

For that matter, cleaning wasn't needed either, but it made for a neater finish as far as she was concerned and that made her feel better. Kate was mostly over her trepidation regarding Marcus Wright, but every once in a while her former mistrust of him tried for a comeback. Giving him the same level of care she would any other patient helped still her twinges of conscience.

"It started about five days after the three of you left. Perry's unit came back in after a couple of nasty engagements and they brought somebody with them. He was a survivor of an H-K attack, actually the sole survivor. Once we got a chance to check him over a little more thoroughly we realized his injuries from the machines weren't his only problem. He had the same thing Blair and the others have contracted. We think that was it. We think he was our patient zero. Our personnel started coming down with it right about then" Kate informed Wright.

"Patient what?" Marcus asked. He'd never heard the term before.

" Patient zero is the first person known to have an illness, the initial source of an epidemic disease" Kate explained. " Nobody was sick with this before him, but after he got here it spread pretty fast. Once we realized what we were up against, we put a quarantine in place, but by then…" further explanation seemed unnecessary.

"He was the only one alive? Everybody else was dead when Perry and his people got to them?" For some reason that refused to come all the way thru to him, Kate's words struck a discord with Marcus. It… reeked of incompleteness. Skynet was many things, but not sloppy. It had a penchant for follow thru. The AI did rarely left anything it attempted unfinished. By the same token, whatever agents it dispatched, whether they were terminators, H-K's, or hydrobots usually finished the job too, unless you took them out first. They were programmed for it. No live human left behind. That was the protocol. So what was up with the miraculous solo deliverance? Why did this one guy get missed? That didn't pass the smell test, not for him anyway. Marcus's gut was telling him something was off about it, and he'd trusted that feeling for too long to start ignoring it now. Maybe it would take a while for everything to slide into place, but when it did, he'd know it.

"Yeah, he was the only one." Kate turned away, packing up her supplies. "You can go back to Blair. I need to find Dr. Simon."

"When did he die? How long did that take?" Marcus asked. Kate's reply stunned Marcus into silence.

"He, he didn't. He's still alive, and we have no idea why or how" Kate admitted, subdued.

Marcus watched her go, still kicking around his little unlooked for brain teaser. He tucked it away, leaving it for his subconscious to work out and headed for Blair's bedside.

* * *

_Where was she? How had she come to this place? Why wasn't she on the base? That was the last place she remembered being. Blair cast about her, trying to recognize anything familiar. Everything looked strange to her eyes, foreign. She stumbled thru the ankle deep snow on numbed feet, fighting her body for every breath. Nothing made sense to her addled brain. Why could she not find her way home? Why did she feel so sick, so wasted? She'd never been this cold before, it stealing into her bones, into her very cells, into her being. Weary beyond any recall, Blair kept moving, using the last vestiges of her strength to resist the hypnotic pull of the earth. The desire to lie down, to give in, to give up nearly smothered her. It was a ravening beast, slobbering after her like wolves trying to bring down a kill. _

"_So cold..ssso c-c-cold" Blair mumbled thru the fog of confusion. "Please, please, I just want to stop for a little…bit. Just…so c-c-cold, so t-ti-tired." She collapsed to her knees, finally bereft of the ability to get back to her feet and continue on. Slumping to the frozen ground, her head on her arms, her eyes slowly closed. _

"_**BLAIR, WAKE UP! COME ON, BABY! WAKE UP! COME ON, COME BACK TO ME! DON'T DO THIS! COME BACK TO ME! COME BACK TO ME!" **_

_Marcus? Marcus! Blair's head came up, lifting off the icy turf to search for him. His voice beseeched her to come to him. Where was he!? She had to find him! Marcus could help her! He'd help her, be able to give her the strength she needed! She had to find him! Blair pressed to her hands and knees, stupidly aware that the snow had disappeared. She hovered for a moment on all fours then stood swaying. She was warmer, the bone chilling frostiness gone from her body. Lifting one foot, then the other, she began walking again. _

"_Marcus, where are you?!" she called. "I, I can't see you! Where are you?! Help me, please!" _

"_Follow my voice, baby!" he answered out of the vastness that surrounded her. "Just follow my voice, that's right. Just keep coming back to me baby. I love you. Just follow my voice. Just stay with me." _

_She journeyed on, holding to the lifeline of Marcus's voice, her only salvation out of the nothing... _

Cradling Blair in his arms, Marcus kissed the top of her head, rubbing his cheek against the silkiness of her mahogany hair. Her body still felt warm. With a booster from him, Blair and the others were keeping their body temps at 100 or better. The fever temporarily confounded the virus.

"Come on baby" he urged. "Wake up and come back to me. Just listen to my voice and come back to me. We won't let it beat us. We'll win together. Just stay with me." He kept it up, turning his encouragement into a constant litany.

Blair's eyelids began to flutter.

* * *

My kingdom for a locked door thought Carol Simon only half joking. Oh well, no way to lock a tent so she'd just have to make the best of it. Taking the carefully obtained samples from the pocket of her makeshift smock, Simon quickly stashed the vials in one of the three medical refrigerators, finding space on the bottom shelf as far back as she could place them. Hopefully, they'd remain unnoticed by Kate or any of the other docs or nurses until she could come back for them. It'd be easier if she could avoid a lot of questions she'd rather not answer.

No stranger to gunfire like everyone else in the resistance, the last place she expected hear it was in the infirmary. When Fred Tallman opened up on Marcus Wright, Carol's instinct told her to become one with the floor. She might have landed in a better spot than under Erin Tallman's bed, but when Wright got cut and started bleeding Simon couldn't believe her good fortune. There, eight inches from her face, lay a puddle of Marcus Wright's otherwise unobtainable blood, waiting to be collected. The cart of supplies upended by Kate included a small batch of syringes. Before she had a chance to think it all the way thru, she dived for the blood pool, syringe in hand, collecting as large a sample as possible. Simon knew she would never get John Connor to let her do her own private personal invasive all out deep probe on Marcus, but now she had a specimen of his blood. And with no one the wiser. Nobody thought to question when Dr. Simon stuck around to help with the cleanup after the ruckus died down. Further bits of Marcus Wright's skin and blood found their way into vials Simon subsequently deposited into the recesses of the med fridge. Her very own individual research project awaited, but first they had to beat the epidemic. Wright's tissue and fluids would have to keep, but, hopefully, they wouldn't have to for long.

* * *

"You're positive I'm not catching or contagious or whatever?" Marcus asked Kate a few hours later. "I haven't contracted the virus and I can't pass it on to anyone?" He needed to be absolutely sure.

She'd taken blood and skin samples (legitimate, knowingly provided ones) from him earlier, after Blair's condition stabilized. Since the disease possessed a shockingly brief incubation period, if any vestiges of it were now in Marcus, they would show in Carol Simon's lab tests.

"Nothing, Marcus. You're blood is clean and also the skin sample. There are no signs of the virus in your system. I think you have as much immunity to this as you've had to anything else. You're not sick and you're not going to be" Kate pronounced with certainty. "Marcus, Blair and Kyle, they're both as well as they are going to be until we can figure out how to kill this monster. And there's a little girl out there who very badly needs some reassurance."

Star. In his anxiety over Blair he'd forgotten his promise. "I'll go find her. I'll be back as soon as I can." He hurried out in search of the child.

"Carol" Kate called to her fellow doctor as she entered the section of the tent set apart as lab space "You still have what's left of Marcus's blood and skin?"

Simon started guiltily until she realized Kate meant the ones Kate had taken from Wright, not the…other vials. "Uh, yeah…y-yes, why?"

"We need to make sure we dispose of it, that's all, every bit of it. I know it's a remote possibility, but we can't take the risk that Skynet could ever obtain Marcus's genetic material" Kate answered.

"Why worry about something like that?" Carol truly didn't understand.

"Look" Kate explained patiently, "most likely Skynet wants to duplicate Marcus. It can't do that exactly because his brain and nervous system are still partially organic, original. But if it could get hold of enough of his tissue and blood, it could clone a very close copy. One enough like Marcus so we'd be unable to tell the difference until it was too late. We don't have the technology but Skynet does and its' devious, and it never sleeps. We trust Marcus and know he's not a danger. We think, or at least we hope all of Marcus's computerized records were destroyed when John took out Skynet's San Francisco hub, but if it found a way to slip in a ringer… one that could get to John... so we don't take chances, ok?"

"Sure, y-y-yeah, uh, here they are." Simon handed over the samples, watching Kate dispose of them. What a waste she thought, glad for her purloined materials, hidden away, known only to herself.

Once alone, Simon got back to work analyzing the virus under one of only two microscopes available. One of the things she was still trying to figure out was why some who'd been exposed were dead or dying and other others hadn't gotten sick at all.

"There has to be a way to stop you, and I'm going to find it" she muttered. Continuing without a break, Carol rubbed her eyes after a while, yawning with exhaustion. Leaving the slide containing the live virus sample next to be examined on her table, she stepped away, passing the refrigerator where her inestimable specimens were stored. She back tracked a couple of steps, stood indecisively for a moment then made up her mind to go for it. If she was quick enough, she could do this and get away undetected. Opening the fridge, she moved aside the items in her way and withdrew the vial containing Marcus Wright's blood. There wasn't much, less than a full tube. Plopping down in front of her scope, she speedily prepared a slide after dropping some of the blood onto it. Unthinking, she deposited the uncorked vial of Marcus's blood next to her viral slide, intent on examination of what lay under the microscope's powerful light. In her tiredness, her sleeve brushed the precariously placed plastic tube, knocking it over. Before she could react, a minute amount of the red liquid spilled out and onto the slide containing the virus.

"Oh no! Damn it!" Carol swore, quickly righting and corking the blood vial. "I can't do this now!" she whispered, frustrated. Taking a look at the little piece she had of Wright, as tempting as it was, would have to wait! She put the sealed container back in its' hiding place and returned to the scope, only then noticing the viral slide smeared with Wright's blood. Unable to fight the compulsion, she placed it under the light, took a look and gasped.

Before her eyes, serial homicide took shape. Surrounding the viral microbes the way a besieging army encircled a city Marcus Wright's crimson cells closed the trap, allowing the virus no escape. As she watched, the blood cells savaged the virus like lions on a wounded zebra, tearing off sections and attacking them with murderous frenzy until they were stone cold dead. Then the cells moved on to more of the virus, repeating the process. Amazed, Carol raised her head. What had she just seen? What just happened?

Heart racing, she repeated the test again and again with samples taken from different patients, Sullivan's included. The results were always the same. Wright's blood destroyed the virus every time. How? Why? What was it in Marcus's bloodstream that slew this demon disease so easily? And was it possible that the immunity he apparently possessed could be communicated to others? Could it cure those already afflicted? Carol backed away from her scope, hyperventilating. She had to find Kate right away.

* * *

Pressed by the needs of her patients, Kate's persistent backache grew steadily worse. If John were here, she knew she could count on a shoulder rub to ease the tension. She could imagine his strong hands kneading the knots out. Oddly, with him so far from her, thinking of him only made the pain intensify. Repeatedly, Kate forcibly steered her thoughts away from the worry of Kyle Reese dying and how that might affect John and Robby. No sense in dwelling on that. It would just make her crazy.

She thought back to her conversation with Marcus. Teddy Sullivan, the initial presenter of the disease _was_ still alive. No one had a clue why, but the man's chest continued to rise and fall, drawing and releasing breaths. Isolated in a separate compartment of the segmented tent, he was comatose, but alive. It defied all explanation. Even Carol Simon, with years of experience in dealing with and fighting infectious and epidemic diseases had no explanation. Maybe another exam of him would shake something loose, give her another direction to follow. They all needed one in the worst possible way.

One her way to see Teddy, Kate's trip got interrupted.

"Kate, am I glad I found you!" Sally Jessup, one of the nurses hailed excitedly. Flushed and sweating, Jessup appeared upset. "We have a problem! I don't know what happened! I don't know how it happened! He, he…it doesn't make sense! He was…he, I don't-!"

What now, Kate wondered. "Sally, get a grip and tell me what's going on!" Kate bit out crisply.

"Kate" Jessup managed, wide eyed and confused, "I, we don't know, I don't understand-"

"Sally, please just tell me what it is!" Dr. Connor lashed.

"Kate, its' Sullivan, Teddy Sullivan, the first case, the guy who-" Jessup spluttered.

"I know who he is Sally! What about him?!" Kate said thru clenched teeth.

"He-he's gone, Kate. He's missing! I went to check on him and his bed was empty! We can't find him anywhere so far! He's gone!"

* * *

**Author's note: Well finally, the end of chapter 3! I don't have a medical background, so I totally winged all of that. It might not be perfect but that's the only excuse I have so it will have to do! The plot continues to thicken. See you in chapter 4. (I hope)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: This will never be my favorite part. I have no interest or claim financial, creatively or otherwise in any of the Terminator movies, franchise or characters. Original characters are mine. Man, that is all a pain to keep saying but this is the U.S. land of the free and home of the lawsuit, soooo…. Now, on with the story. **

Viral-Chapter 4- Into the Painted Desert

"Kate! Kate, we have to talk! I have to tell you, I found something!" Carol Simon's excited yells attracted Kate's attention. She turned in Carol's direction, still reeling from the incredible news of Teddy Sullivan's impossible disappearance. The man had been comatose, alive but immobile and unreachable as stone. How did it come about then that he'd simply up and vanished, right out from under the very noses of his caregivers?

Now with the news still warm from Sally Jessup's mouth, Kate whirled, wondering what had been able to rouse Carol so greatly.

"What is, what is it Carol? What's got you so worked up?" Kate batted away Jessup's hand which had been plucking at her sleeve. "Keep looking for him, alright? Suit up some of the people who aren't sick so they'll be less vulnerable and form search teams. He can't have gotten far. He's gotta be around here somewhere. Go, go on!" Dr. Connor sent the nurse off as Simon got to her.

"Kate, I think I'm on to something! I think I might have found a way to beat this illness! I think I found a cure!" Carol Simon blurted breathlessly.

"What?!" Kate clutched her forehead, shocked. "What do you mean? How? What happened?"

"I was analyzing some slides of the virus under the scope and some of Wright's blood accidentally spilled onto it" Simon supplied, unconsciously giving her secret away. "I didn't expect it, I, I, when I checked the slide- Kate, Marcus Wright's blood kills this stuff, I mean it just absolutely murders it! I tested it over and over just to be sure, same result every time! Wright's blood wipes the floor with this virus! We have to-"

"Some of Marcus's blood? I, I don't understand." Kate answered, confused. "You told me all the samples of Marcus's blood were disposed of. How was there any to analyze?"

"Can we worry about that later?" Carol rushed on realizing she'd blown her cover. She'd have to deal with the fallout from that eventually. Right now, Kate needed to hear this. "Look, you have to come and see! We might have a way to kick this virus where it hurts! If we can figure how to synthesize an antidote-come on" Simon grabbed Kate, practically dragging her bodily to the lab.

* * *

Blair slept quietly, feverish, but hanging in according to the attending medic. Kyle Reese was also holding his own, so Marcus decided he could slip away for a few moments to go check on Star. He'd left the sleeping girl in Abby's care to come and be with Blair, but with nightfall approaching, he figured the kid would probably want tucking in or something. This whole child rearing gig was still trial and error for him. There had been no little rug rats with his DNA on the other side of Judgment Day or at least none that he'd known of, so this thing with helping to raise Star, well he was mostly winging it. Cribbing together some of the stuff he remembered Norah doing when she wasn't dodging Dylan's fists with some of the stuff Valerie and Carl Soames tried, he did his best. When Marcus messed up parenting, Blair and Kyle were around to help clean up and get things back on track. Between the three of them, Star got sort of a communal upbringing. He'd never admit it out loud even if they staked him down and let Barnes take pot shots at him again, but most of the time he kind of enjoyed his pseudo fatherhood.

As he got closer to the small tent where he knew Abby stayed, he could tell something was wrong. The flap was torn and the tiny structure seemed to be leaning to one side, like one of its supports was knocked off kilter. He rushed in, eyes widening in alarm. Lying on the ground, her hands, feet and mouth bound with filthy rags, Abby Turner lay moaning weakly. A huge ugly purplish black bruise filled nearly one side of her face, spanning from eye to mouth. Marcus looked around frantically but didn't see Star anywhere. Gently as he could, he helped Abby sit, removing her gag and freeing her hands and feet.

"Oh, oh Marcus, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I tr-, I tried to stop him!" Abby sobbed, grabbing at Marcus's clothing, shaking and coughing. "He surprised me, I didn't know he was there, and then before I could yell or do anything else, he hit me, knocked me down! He was on top of me! I tried to stop him! I'm so sorry!" Abby cried.

"Are you-" Marcus stopped before he could complete the question. The answer was more than obvious. Injured and traumatized, the elderly woman was clearly not alright. He helped her get up to sit in the single canvas folding chair the tent possessed.

"Abby, what happened, where is Star?!" Wright asked an unusual tremor in his voice. "Where is she?"

"He-oh Marcus, I'm so sorry, he, he took her! He hit me before I could cry out and then he hit Star and I think he knocked her out and then took her! I couldn't stop him! I'm so sorry!" Abby started crying again.

"Who, Abby?!" Marcus questioned, trying to stay calm, trying not to upset the old lady further. "Who took her? Who was it?"

"That man, that Teddy Sullivan person, the one Major Perry's unit brought back with them! He did it! He took Star!"

* * *

_[CONTINUE MISSION PEROGATIVE] _

_Teddy Sullivan's control chip received the command from Skynet. The chip in Teddy's head looked a lot like the one Marcus Wright had once torn from his own skull. Placed side by side, the two microchips would have appeared identical to the naked eye. Appearances can be deceiving. As humankind had discovered to their considerable sorrow, Skynet learned at mind bending speeds. Its error with the Wright prototype would not be duplicated. Upgrading from the passive, subconscious control it had attempted to bring to bear with Marcus, Skynet's manipulation of Teddy lacked any attempt at subterfuge. From the moment Teddy's brain, with no anesthetic relief from his machine surgeons, was outfitted with the chip, the AI had complete domination of the pathetic man, mentally and physically. Any freedom of thought Teddy retained was instantly crushed by the supercomputers' unblinking will. This time it took no chances that its' slave would break the chain. Weak and malleable as soft clay, Sullivan became as much Skynet's tool as the H-K's and terminators. _

_[STATUS UPDATE :FUNCTION 1A: __COMPLETED]_

_Teddy's head's up display relayed the data to Skynet's New Mexico hub. His initial function, to infect other people with the mutated version of the virus Skynet culled from its prodigious files of human bio-warfare had been achieved. Disinclined, of course, to belief in such an illogical thing as "luck", Skynet nonetheless considered it a master stroke that the first humans to be grieved with its creation had close connection to its priority target. John Connor and the resistance did not yet know the jealously guarded exact location of the time travel technology that would assist them in their fight against the AI, but they would soon. And they would quickly learn how to use it effectively. If Kyle Reese were eliminated before that happened Skynet calculated a 99.999 percent probability that it would win the war by default. Prior attempts to terminate Connor's sire had failed. This one must succeed. _

_Placing Sullivan among the bloated bodies left behind after a hunter killer attack to be found by the resistance, clinging to life, Skynet had only to monitor his progress. It observed clinically as Teddy was "rescued" taken within the human encampment and tended to. The medical personnel treating him did not find the chip. They had no reason to suspect the existence of one. Upon hearing the name "Kate Connor" all of Skynet's logic circuits fired in a very un-machinelike surge of satisfaction. John Connor's wife. Where she was, Connor must be and he would therefore be vulnerable to the virus. But, as Skynet soon surmised, that was not the case. Connor was away, as was another of those Skynet desired to remove, Marcus Wright. Reese was present, and already affected by the disease. With Connor beyond reach for the time being, Skynet moved to another secondary consideration. The child designated as "Star". _

_Before being destroyed by Marcus Wright as the trio fled along the road out of Los Angeles, the aerostat scout that located and identified Reese had been able to relay a certain amount of information back to Skynet. The same applied to Skynet's clandestine surveillance, conducted via the prototype. Reviewed countless times, the record yielded an interesting fact. The young human female could sense the presence of Skynet technology before that technology became visible. She could "feel" Skynet's approach. How? How was this possible? How did it work? What physical trait did the girl possess which gave her this ability? Did it occur naturally? Had she been "born" with it? To what degree was it accurate? At what distance did it become activated? Could it be passed on to others? Could there already be others like her? In sum, to what extent did the child's ability pose a threat to Skynet's ultimate goal? The AI knew a threat assessment must be completed. To accomplish this, physical possession of the girl was imperative. _

_The chip fused to the human's brain enabled Skynet to control the virus in Teddy's body. While the disease raged unchecked thru the systems of its other victims, Teddy Sullivan only got as sick as Skynet wanted him to. When the AI deemed command function 1A to be accomplished, nanites were released which destroyed the virus yet masked Sullivan's improved condition. Skynet's puppet needed to complete his intended mission. Teddy Sullivan received command function 2A. Recapture of the female. _

_[FULFILL COMMAND FUNCTION 2A. Acquire 2cc's of Hexaprolemdiazilin Succicholyne. Administer to the female and proceed to coordinates 35__O__ 03' 55N X 109__o__ 46' 53W"]_

_Waiting until the doctor Carol Simon vacated the lab, Teddy was able to identify and obtain the drug from the refrigerated medical supplies. With the chip converting the visual to digitalized information, his eyes relayed what they saw back to Skynet. _

_[__WAIT]__Skynet sent the command. Sullivan waited nonmoving in front of the open door. _

_[Also acquire samples designated 1 and 2 Wright] __the AI instructed. _

_Obediently, Teddy gathered Carol Simon's illicit pieces of Marcus Wright along with the HDS and a syringe. Overpowering the old lady took almost no effort, similarly with the child. Once the little girl was properly sedated, guided by Skynet's programming, Sullivan evaded the base's perimeter guards, who were more focused without than within. With the catatonic fixation of a zombie, he headed for the coordinates given by Skynet._

* * *

Kate's jaw dropped as she saw Marcus's blood neutralize the deadly virus without mercy.

"We have to find a way to duplicate this Kate!" Carol blurted, watching Kate's reaction."Whatever immunities Skynet give that thing also exist in its blood. If we can figure out how to-"

That thing!?" Kate cut her colleague off sharply. "Marcus is not a thing Carol. I expected better of you!"

"Of, of course. I, I didn't mean-" Simon began.

"I'm pretty sure I know what you meant" Kate told her, swallowing her anger. "And right now we don't have time to discuss it, but we will, you can bet on that! Now let's get to work. Our patients are running out of time."

* * *

"Why did he take Star? This is crazy, Marcus!" A shaken Kate struggled to deal. This day just kept getting more insane. Interrupted in the middle of wresting an antidote for the virus from the small sample they had of Marcus Wright's blood, Kate was further staggered by the news of Star's kidnapping.

Confronted with a cruel dilemma, Marcus had no options. With the woman he loved still fighting for her life, he would have to leave her to save Star. While Simon doctored the battered Abby, Marcus loaded up with medical supplies just in case.

He was going alone. Doped up on painkillers after having the pellets extracted from his leg, Billy Soames was temporarily out of commission.

"I don't really give a damn why Kate! I'm going after her and I'm going to get her back safe!" Marcus answered, prepping his weaponry also. "She's my-" Marcus broke off before the word "daughter" emerged. Star was not his child, but until this moment he'd not realized how much the little girl had come to mean to him. It didn't matter that there was no blood connection between them. Teddy Sullivan had picked the wrong kid to mess with.

"I understand that" Carol Simon broke in, "but before you go there's something you need to know."

She told him about the interaction of his blood with the virus, crowding his head with questions nobody had the time to answer. He noticed Kate's curiously frosty regard for the other doctor. What was that about? Never mind, not his problem.

"We need to draw some more of your blood. As much as possible" Carol told him, pulling a makeshift phlebotomy kit from her medical bag.

"Fine, what the hell ever" Marcus responded, eyes narrowed, yanking his sleeve above his elbow. "Just get it done so I can get out of here!" They were wasting precious time. He couldn't the picture of a terrified Star out of his head.

I'm comin' kid. I'll get you back home. I promise. Just hang on. He'd put his family back together. Then he'd deal with Sullivan. Sam and the Rangers would understand.

Kate Connor saw the look in his eyes as Marcus focused into the distance. She almost pitied Teddy Sullivan. Almost.

* * *

John Connor stepped out into the developing morning heat of the Arizona wilderness stretching to ease the tightness from his back and neck. He hadn't slept well. Kate's transmission from the night before kept him awake. Star kidnapped and Marcus in lone pursuit and all Connor could do was wait. About the only good news was that Kate believed she and Carol would be able to concoct an antidote to the mystery illness tearing thru their home base. They would be using Marcus's blood as a basis for the cure. Interesting. Skynet may unintentionally have provided them with the means to defeat this latest attack. John had to admit that gave him a rush. It also gave him hope. It helped to have a reminder that his implacable enemy made mistakes too.

He knew that to Kyle, Star was like a little sister. John badly wanted to make things right again_,_ but this far from home he and Barnes were powerless to do more than hope Marcus could overtake Sullivan and rescue the girl before something worse happened. Why Star, Connor wondered? Why her? Why this particular kid? Even should the worst be true and Teddy Sullivan were the nastiest kind of human scum imaginable, a child predator, why pick Star? And how had the man been physically able? By all accounts he was too sick to have pulled off such a feat. The whole thing was starting to have the feel of a Skynet engineered scheme, but he held off making that conclusion too quickly. True, the AI wanted humans gone from the planet, but as his mother once told him, people could make plenty enough trouble for each other without any help from a computer with genocide on its mind. John didn't want to start seeing Skynet under the bed. Focus was a good thing but paranoia and tunnel vision could get him screwed.

He heard quiet footfalls and turned to see Colonel Barnes.

"Thought you might have gone to grab some breakfast" Barnes commented.

"Not hungry" Connor returned, his tone hushed. Both men watched silently as the camp came slowly to life, day reluctantly trading places with night. Banked cook fires began the day's task of feeding hungry resistance fighters.

The Chiricahua encampment sectioned off in a series of cave formations. Hidden by thick scrub, the Apache knew the layout of the millennia old limestone formations intimately. Their uneven, jagged, often bizarre terrain made it difficult for Skynet's machines to navigate and the layers of rock hindered communication. Skynet had a machine dislike of the caverns, something the humans could and did use to their advantage.

"Huskins is looking for you" Barnes told Connor. "He says they got a group coming back in that just linked up with the northern brigade. Says you're probably gonna want to hear what they have." Major General William Huskins was the base commander.

The Arizona resistance effort was divided into two sections. While the Apache harassed the supercomputer and its minions in the south, the former compatriots of Vince Lawler and Jake Peterson (the latter of whom was universally not missed at all) did what they could to bring the fight to Skynet in the northern part of the state. The groups periodically joined to trade for supplies, weapons and intel. A squad just returning from one of those summits could be of considerable value to John Connor.

"We'd better go hear it then" Connor said. He and Barnes headed for central command. By the time they arrived, the men and women from the returning unit were fully settled in. Divested of weapons and traveling gear, most were taking advantage of the opportunity to grab a hot meal and some cool water. One of the perks of their present location was an aquifer. The water offered a welcome relief to dry throats.

Huskins noticed their approach. The Chiricahua general straightened, offering a half smile in welcome.

"General John Connor, Colonel Anthony Barnes" he introduced, waving a hand in Connor and Barnes direction, "Major Ethan Kozine, Captain Lucy Gray Moon."

"Major, Captain" Connor acknowledged.

"Good to finally meet you, General" Gray Moon responded. Always before, when John conferred with the Arizona Apaches, they'd come to him. This was his first time on their turf. Many of them he'd never met until now.

"Same here" John said, meaning it. These people gave Skynet hell in these parts. That made life easier for a lot of others, him included. Barnes echoed the sentiment.

"I wanted to wait for you" Huskins stated to Connor. "Now that you're here, let's get started. What have you got for me?" The question was directed towards Kozine and Gray Moon.

"There's an unusual amount of enemy activity up north right now, especially around the P D" Kozine reported. "Skynet's sending terminators into there like it hasn't done in a while. Almost like they're looking for something, or maybe expecting something to happen. We downed an H-K two days ago, one carrying a harvester. Not sure what to make of it, but there's definitely been some kind of a new development."

"We smashed their R & D up there about six months ago" Connor interjected, referring to the microchip robbery/raid masterminded by Marcus Wright. "We did a lot of damage. It would take them a while to rebuild."

"Was the facility you hit in this area?" Huskins wanted to know. His finger pointed to a spot on the weathered map labeled **"Arizona's Famed Painted Desert."** Formerly distributed to tourists of the popular destination, it now served a more utilitarian purpose.

"No" Barnes spoke for the first time. "It was up around what used to be Lake Havasu."

"So Skynet's got something popping in the PD, and we don't know what it is. But I'd say we need to find out, and fast" Huskins put in.

"Agreed" Connor said.

"Another thing sir" Captain Gray Moon submitted. "On our way back here we picked up a passenger. Somebody I think you're going to be real interested in. Sort a techie expert. Kind of a traveling computer guru. Resistance in Colorado pulled him out of a tight spot. He's been with them ever since but when he heard we were coming back here he asked if he could come along. He's been trying to make it to California for months. Think he's trying to hook up with your unit General Connor. Won't say why."

"Invite him to join us" John instructed. Curious to know the identity of this eager unknown, Connor waited somewhat impatiently while Gray Moon complied with his order. In the meantime, he studied the map, trying to get a handle on Skynet's thinking. What was suddenly so important to the AI in the Painted Desert? What answers did it hold?

Gray Moon returned with their guest. Of average height and build, with a full head of salt and pepper hair, the man's dark eyes revealed little. His sun browned skin hinted at a Hispanic heritage. The man moved with an easy grace that belied his age, which John Connor estimated to be somewhere between forty-five and fifty. He approached Connor confidently, right hand extended. Barnes tensed but his caution was unnecessary. The hand was empty, intended only as part of a greeting. The man spoke, his voice low and even.

"John Connor. I've wanted to meet you for a while." He and Connor shook hands. "It's a pleasure. I'm Manuel Serrano."

* * *

Kate had questioned Marcus before his departure. "You're leaving now? Marcus how are you going to track them in the dark?" she wanted to know. He couldn't delay. Sullivan had a huge head start.

"I'm going to use my nose" Marcus answered wryly. With his metal endoskeleton, human brain and Skynet grown skin, the camp's dogs hadn't quite known what to make of Marcus. A couple of them were very friendly to him, having discovered he could be a source of the most heavenly belly rubs a dog could find anywhere. There was one mama dog whose newborn pups Marcus had saved from a shed fire that tended to follow him around, eyes full of canine adoration, but by and large his pooch fans were in the minority. Most of the others seemed to have decided he wasn't an enemy, but didn't classify him as a friend either. They mostly gave him lots of room. Besides that, Marcus knew the base needed all the sharp nosed security it could muster. He didn't want to take any of the dogs away from their sentry duties. But for him, that would not be necessary.

Skynet's assumption that humans would always be unable to improve upon any of its designs was distinctly flawed. When the opportunities presented, skilled humans were more than capable of turning captured Skynet technology to their benefit, revamping and tailoring it.

Vince Lawler, aided by Rick Donnelly and others on Connor's technical staff had done just that when they'd gotten their hands on the computer in Marcus's head. Not only was Wright now able to control the incredibly advanced instrument, but he could use it to do things Skynet never intended.

Going to Star's quarters, located next to Kyle Reese's, Marcus sought an article of her clothing, spying her cap. His jaw tightened as his fingertips brushed the prominent star on the front. He turned away from the thought. Not now. Taking a deep whiff, his computer cataloged her scent. Tucking the cap inside his shirt, he walked the camp perimeter until his nose picked up a matching odor.

"I know which way they went" he told Kate upon his return to the medical tent. Hooking one of the base's few DECAT's (Digitally Encrypted Communication Access Transmitter), another of Lawler's new toys around his left ear, he set out, a lethal two-legged bloodhound, determined to save the one he loved.

* * *

Both hands clasped over her mouth, Carol Simon stared at the ravaged interior of the refrigerator in shock. She'd checked over and over and then checked again, but her eyes kept confirming what she dreaded to be true. The two vials containing her covertly acquired samples of Marcus's blood and tissue were missing. No, not missing she corrected, gone. Way gone, as in for good. And that was only the start. She also discovered the stolen drugs.

"Kate" Carol summoned the courage to speak. Whatever the consequences, Kate had to know about this.

"Did you figure out what's missing?" Kate questioned. She'd set Simon to inventorying the fridge when the two doctor's had returned from taking care of Abby and seeing Marcus depart, to find the lab in disarray.

Carol swallowed hard. "Yes. Yes I did, and Kate, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't know, I mean I couldn't have known, who could imagine something like this would happen-"

"What are you talking about, Carol?" The other woman's voice and manner made Kate's spine shrivel.

Both unable and unwilling to look Kate in the eye as she did so, Carol Simon confessed her actions following the infirmary shooting, gathering the samples, hiding them, what her ultimate intentions had been. She finished, looking up to see Kate Connor's clear cerulean blue eyes boring into her.

"How could you do that?!" Kate raged. "I told you what Skynet-Carol do you realize what you might have done!? What you might have set in motion?! Do you understand how bad this could get!?"

"I, I only wanted, I didn't mean…" Simon began.

"Stop! Stop!" Kate backed off, collecting her emotions. She turned away from Simon, thinking hard. Ultimately she spun around again. "You have to get back to work. Our patients need that serum" she said, very controlled. Her finger pointed at the half completed virus antidote. "We'll deal with the rest later" Kate finished, heading for the exit.

"Where are you going?" Carol asked.

"I'm not sure what he can do about it, but John needs to know" Kate answered, heading for communications.

* * *

"Manuel Serrano" Connor echoed. "Vince Lawler's spoken quite highly of you. I think he suspects you walk on water, he's just never managed to catch you doing it." Connor kept his tone light to rob the words of any offense.

Manny issued a crooked grin that keenly reminded John of a certain man with a machine body that he knew.

"Vince was one of my best students. He has a brilliant mind, one that is very valuable to the resistance. You're fortunate to have him."

"I believe you know someone else at our base" Connor continued, "Marcus Wright." He waited, studying Serrano for his reaction to the mention of his old friend's name.

"I heard Marcus was with you" was all Serrano said, not quite manifesting a ghostly smile.

John got the impression Manuel Serrano was more than merely pleased to hear of Wright's survival and connection to the resistance, he appeared comforted by the fact.

"What else have you heard about him?" Barnes asked roughly.

"If you're asking if I'm aware of the physical changes Skynet made, then yes, I am. I know about the computer it put in his head right about here, too" Manny answered composedly. He pointed to a spot on his own head that accurately pinpointed where Marcus's computer was located.

And just how the hell do you know that? John Connor wondered.

"It don't bother you?" Barnes challenged, "Skynet turning your buddy into a machine?"

"I don't regard him as such" was Serrano's reply. "I never will. Marcus Wright was and always will be my friend. I'm glad to hear he that lives, whatever form that life takes." Manny's dark eyes met Barnes's steadily. Barnes looked away first.

"How do you know about the computer, and exactly where it is?" John decided to be direct.

"I know a lot of things Skynet doesn't want me to" Serrano stated, for the first time a slight edge creeping into his voice. "Every target has a soft spot" he quoted. "You just have to find it so you can stick 'em at the right time. Marcus used to say that to us all the time. He's been with you for a while. You've never heard it?"

"General Connor!" A soldier came running up out of breath, disrupting the impromptu conference. "Sorry sir" The man apologized to Huskins and the other assembled officers. "There's an urgent message for General Connor. It's from your wife sir."

* * *

Broken. Forever and always beyond any repair. Marcus stared helplessly at the lifeless corpse of Teddy Sullivan, willing the eyes to open, the mouth to speech, but it wasn't going to happen. Not ever. Teddy had finally gotten his peace. He was dead. So dead nothing could ever hurt him again.

Or wring any information out of him either, Marcus thought disgustedly. Dead and useless! His fingers curled into fists as he fought down the renewed frustration and fear the sight of Teddy Sullivan's mangled body stirred in him. He drew in a ragged breath. Get a grip Marcus, you can't do this now. Star can't afford it.

Tracking them tirelessly thru the night, Marcus had swiftly closed the distance between Sullivan, Star and himself. With Sullivan's considerable lead to surmount, Wright had set a pace that would have been brutally unsustainable to anyone else. His former self would have never been able to keep it up for this long. The desert was an ugly place for an endurance contest. But things were different now. Very different. Able to keep the need for food, water and rest sublimated, he just kept going, relentlessly narrowing the gap. His unerring sense of smell was akin to a bright red arrow pointing him in the right direction. The black of night gradually brightened into the gray, golden blue of morning with Marcus getting closer, closer, closer. Every few clicks he would stop to gauge how much longer it might take him to catch Sullivan and his captive. Finally, he judged he was no more than a mile or two behind. He could smell Star. He knew she'd come awake because her familiar scent had become infused with fear. Almost there kid, I'm almost there. Hold on. Marcus broke into a run. Two miles became one, then less than a mile, then less than half that. Over the next sandy rise-

He halted as suddenly as if he'd hit a wall. Below, sprawled in a shallow depression, the dead Teddy Sullivan mocked his desperate all night hunt. Reaching the body, Marcus noted the grotesque condition. Teddy's head rested at a ninety degree angle to the rest of him. The manner of Sullivan's death was hardly natural but most certainly painful. Star was nowhere in sight.

"Star! Star!" Come on kid, he pleaded silently, just this once, say something! Kate had always maintained that there appeared to be nothing wrong with the child's vocal folds or larynx. She had the ability to speak, just not the desire. He checked the area carefully but there was no sign of her. With both hands he dug into his longer than it used to be but still short brown hair. What was he supposed to do now?! Where did he go from here? He tried picking up her scent again but it seemed to have vanished. There was nothing for him to grab on to. There had to be something! There had to! There had to-Wait a minute, what was this? Leading east, away from the dead man, east, very faint now with the passage of time but still visible, there they were. Booted footprints. Much too big to be Star's, the stride too long to be female. A man then. "No" he breathed as the meaning of what he saw combined with the state of Sullivan's body coalesced. "No! No! Why?! Why?!" Marcus howled, pounding the sandy desert soil. Black rage and grief he'd not felt since the day Sam died washed over him. If they hurt her, they would pay. And he'd find a way to make it hurt even if he had to crawl inside Skynet's mainframe to do it. He'd find a way to make Skynet bleed. They'd taken her from Sullivan. That's why he'd come to this place, to meet them and now they had her. Skynet's terminators had Star.

* * *

**Author's note: Don't go looking for Hexaprolemdiazilin Succicholyne**_. _**I made it up. If there really is such a thing no one will be more surprised than me. As always, reviews welcome. See ya in chapter 5. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Here we go again. I have no connection financial, creatively or otherwise to any of the Terminator characters or franchise, la la la la la… original characters are mine. Enough of that. Let's continue, shall we?**

Viral-Chapter 5

Convergence

Marcus suffocated the nearly overwhelming urge to lose control. Any hope of saving Star depended a lot on his ability to lock down his emotions, no matter what. If he let his rage take over, he and Blair and Kyle might never see her again. Ruthlessly, he put away the Marcus that had crawled mother-naked, muddy and disoriented out of Skynet's murderous womb so many months past. Likewise with the man who'd slowly but inexorably learned to live with his new status and adapted painfully, with an enormous amount of loving help from Blair, to his surreal existence. Those versions of himself would not be useful now, would only be an impediment to recovering the little girl who so desperately needed him. In their place came not a new Marcus, but the old one. The original, the one who'd evolved from boy to man amidst the wolves of outlaw bikers, murderous drug cartels and cold blooded death dealing criminals. Although they walked upright and wore human faces, to those animals everybody outside their tight circle of companion predators was fair game. Marcus once ranged as a wolf of that circle and for a while had been the alpha of his own pack. He'd believed that man long dead these almost seventeen years ago now and so had Skynet. Thought him dead and gone never to return. But he and Skynet were both wrong.

* * *

_Marcus stood, examining the ground with his specialized vision for clues. "That thing, where'd it go?" he'd asked Blair minutes after first meeting her._

_He registered her reply, "The transport? Skynet. Where the hell you going?" only peripherally while staring off into the distance after the departed harvester._

_"After it" was his reply then. He would go after them again._

There were at least two separate sets of heavy footprints and judging from their direction, they were taking Star southeast. Why? Where were they going? What was their ultimate destination? He couldn't begin to guess, but Connor would know. Another snippet of his first conversation with Blair came to mind.

_"Listen, if you've got a problem with the machines, he's definitely the guy you want to talk to" she'd urged._

He had a problem with the machines alright, and so did Star. And, he realized, if the 8's kept taking Star the way they were headed, they would pass very close to where Connor currently was. A realist, Marcus accepted that by himself, his chances of getting the little girl away from a pair of T-800's were infinitesimally small. With John Connor, Anthony Barnes and a corps of Apache resistance joining the fight, those chances increased in his and Star's favor by an immeasurable amount. Besides, his eyes taking on a feral cast in the early morning light, wolves always fared better when they hunted together. He needed to talk to Connor.

* * *

"East, Marcus? You're sure the tracks head east? Steadily?" Kate's voice, tinny over the distance came thru the DECAT. The transmitter had a compact but very powerful battery source that remained securely attached to his side.

"Yeah, Kate" Marcus answered as he continued following the trail left by the terminators. The tell tale signs in the sandy soil were easily discernable. Skynet's killers didn't bother trying to hide. Marcus was suddenly more hopeful. Her insistence on clarifying the direction Star's kidnappers had taken had to be important.

"Does the direction mean something to you?" He'd contacted home base hoping they could serve as a link to Connor, not expecting to speak to Kate personally.

"You bet it does" she responded. The cautious enthusiasm in her voice was contagious. "Marcus, I think I know where they're headed. That's got to be it. It has to be!"

"Where Kate? What are you thinking? Tell me!" he insisted.

"I think the 800's are taking Star to Los Alamos! I don't have any idea why, but that has to be it! The place has been in Skynet's possession since Judgment Day! And for a couple of terminators it wouldn't be hard to reach at all. With San Francisco crippled and Nevada being contested, Los Alamos is Skynet's most hardened and developed location in that part of the country." There was a short pause, as if Kate were mulling over her next words. "Marcus, you can't try to go there, not alone. Skynet would cut you down before you got within ten clicks of the place. "

"I'm pretty well aware of the risks, Kate" Marcus worked at keeping the sarcasm out of his reply. Why did these people continue to sell him short? "That's why I contacted you. I realize I'm gonna need Connor's help to get Star back, but I am going to get her back. And it doesn't matter where they've taken her. So if you're suggesting that I back off, you can forget it."

"Of course that's not what I meant Marcus!" Kate answered. "Give me a chance to finish, ok?! I would never say that! I think the reason Skynet's directed the terminators to take the route they're taking is because it's … the path of least resistance, literally. Right now you're in the Painted Desert. John, Barnes and the Apache are relatively close."

Duh, really? Marcus thought. I know that already Kate.

"And they would be right in the T-800's path if they'd continued in a straight line after they took Star from Sullivan. The Chirichaua blew up a transport- harvester there a couple of days ago! It might have been waiting for the 800's, you know, like an extraction. Only now that the harvester's out of commission, maybe they've been ordered to proceed on foot. Maybe they've been told to skirt resistance territory and come slightly southeast to get to Los Alamos. Skynet must really want to get its' hands on Star. I just really wish I knew why!" Kate's distress and frustration came thru the communications device.

"I don't care why" Marcus repeated "that doesn't matter to me."

"It doesn't matter to any of us Marcus. We'll get her back, we will. But I'm going to contact John right away. We need to get you two talking to each other again. He's going to want to be in on this for more reasons than one" Kate told him. She sounded tired.

"Why? What else is wrong?" He trembled, afraid to voice the question. "Kate, is it Blair, is she worse? Is she…" Wright couldn't say the word.

"What? What? Oh, oh, no, no, Marcus, Blair's alive, she and Kyle both. It's not that, but there's something else you should know. Something Carol Simon did."

Kate told him about the samples Simon had taken of his blood and skin against Kate's prohibition and then explained the significance.

Marcus swore sulfurously. He'd never liked Simon and now he had another reason not to. On top of everything else she'd turned out not to be trusted. Now why didn't that surprise him at all?

"When you get in touch with John the two of can figure out a strategy to stop the 8's, get Star and take care of those vials. Keep your line open" Kate ordered.

"I will" he responded. "Kate" he caught her before she could cut the connection. "Blair, how is she? Please, I have to know" Marcus begged, desperate for some good news of his beautiful wife. He'd kept his worries for her rigidly bottled up but those worries refused to be contained any longer.

The silence stretched out, terrifying him, giving the lie to Kate's prior assurances that Blair still lived. His equilibrium lurched. Just as his fears began to roar in his mind, the line crackled to life once more, but it wasn't Kate who answered.

"Why don't you ask me?" Incredibly, wonderfully, scratchy and weak as it was, the voice he heard thru the transmitter in his ear belonged to Blair.

* * *

She mostly tried to keep real quiet. It was not that difficult for her. Star's whole life had been about not making noise. As far back as she could remember the most important lesson she'd ever learned was that being quiet meant staying alive. So Star lived every day being as quiet as she possibly could. Her savior Kyle, Blair, Marcus and the rest, they all thought she didn't talk because some of the terrible things she had been witness to had scared her into silence. That was part of it, maybe. She didn't want to talk about the before times, ever. Not to anybody, even Kyle. But one of the main reasons she didn't talk was that she was busy listening. Listening and paying attention. If she filled the void with words, she might miss something.

"_Be very careful and pay attention" her daddy always told her. "The machines, they don't talk, they pay attention, so you have to do that too. Being quiet and paying attention could mean you don't die, okay?" _

_Star nodded solemnly to signal her understanding. She understood all her lessons, like where to look for food and why their family had to mostly stay inside during the day and only go out just as the sun was going down or coming up. That was "power down" time for the machines, and therefore, safer for humans. Not too long after the day he'd told her about being quiet, daddy and mama had gone out and never came back, and it was just her and Thomas, her brother. Then Tommy went away too, leaving her alone. Had they made too much noise, been heard by the machines? Star would never know. She could only try to be the best little girl ever, to be very silent, watching and paying attention. _

That's what she was doing right now, being very, very, extremely quiet. She even tried to breathe quietly. When she'd first awakened, bruised and sore, and realized that the "person" carrying her was aT-800, Star did scream, but only in her mind. The last thing she remembered before this was being in Abby's tent. She liked Abby. She had since Abby had stubbornly insisted on feeding her before allowing Marcus and Kyle to leave the bombed out convenience store turned survivalist shelter the day they'd first met. Star would have rather been with Marcus, holding Blair's hand to help the pretty lady pilot to wake up; or with Kyle, silently willing the most important person in her world to open his eyes. But she couldn't do that since Kate made her stay out of the medical tent. Star wasn't sick and Kate didn't want her to get that way, so Star stayed with Abby like Marcus asked her to, helping the old lady out and keeping her company. Then the bad man Teddy came and Star had gone to sleep. When she woke up, the T-800 was carrying her, slung over one shoulder like a sack of the cereal Corporal Wilmer served for breakfast every morning. Star almost cried when she realized she could feel her arms and legs again. (After the scary man had given her the shot she hadn't been able to feel them anymore or move either). She knew she could not escape the terminators, she knew she had to be good until Kyle and Marcus came to take her home. And she knew she had to stay quiet and pay attention, so she did. Star stayed quiet. But she was so, so frightened.

* * *

"You want to try a pinscher on a couple of 800's?" Marcus questioned skeptically. "That sounds too risky Connor. What happens when they see us coming? If they decide they're cut off, they might take it out on Star."

"I don't think that will happen, Marcus" John Connor reassured, transmitting thru his own DECAT. "For one thing, we don't plan to let them know we're there until it suits us. For another, I don't believe they'll harm Star. Skynet wants her alive. That's their mission, to get her to the Los Alamos facility alive and unharmed. It has to be or she'd already be dead."

John hate being so blunt in discussing what could happen to Star, but the circumstances didn't leave a lot of room for delicacy. Plus, he really thought it was true. John knew more than any other person alive how determined a terminator would be to fulfill its mission. This pair of 8's had been tasked to get Star to Los Alamos for purposes known only to their master, Skynet. The little girl couldn't be much good to the AI dead. They weren't going to hurt her. He was sure of that. He had to convince Marcus. Connor could hear the underlying fear and anger the other man struggled to control. He understood and sympathized, able to put himself in Wright's shoes, but he couldn't let that sympathy blind him to the right thing to do.

"You'll have to trust me that this is the best way to handle it" John continued. "The Apache force will fan out and a platoon of resistance will link up with you at the agreed coordinates. One more will be with me and Barnes. We'll trap the 800's between us and get Star back. Then we make sure those vials are destroyed and go home."

Using base communications as a bridge, John Connor sounded different to Marcus as the words traveled over the distance and were passed thru all the jamming and directional filters. He had no come back for the logic however. Something of a strategist in his own right, Marcus knew when a good plan was looking him in the eye. This one wasn't perfect, but he had nothing better, and Connor and Skynet were lifelong adversaries. Nobody could get inside the computer's head like its number one hated human enemy. Suppressing his remaining misgivings, he thumbed the transmit button.

"Alright Connor, you win. Tell Gray Moon I'm headed to meet her and not to be late."

Marcus broke the communications link but kept his line open. Since it was passive unless activated by conversation, Skynet's monitoring was unlikely to pick it up. He checked the sun's position in the brilliant blue sky and put the time at nearly noon. In his other life he'd have holed up in whatever cool dry spot he could find and let the daytime desert heat pass. Left without that option now, he drank some water, cycled his body temp as low as possible and pushed on toward his rendezvous with Captain Lucy Gray Moon and her Chirichaua.

* * *

Doing damage control on her professional and personal standing with Kate Connor, Carol Simon became both doctor and nurse to the recovering Blair Williams. Barely able to lift her head off her pillow, Blair soon discovered she had only to express the slightest desire for something and Dr. Simon would be there to make sure she got it.

"I'm really thirsty" Blair croaked thru dry lips. Instantly a cup of cool water appeared.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go to the bathroom." Simon would be by her side, helping the shaky Blair wobble to the nearest facilities to relieve herself and then helping gently ease her back into bed.

Puzzled, Blair accepted the unexpected aid without comment. She'd always preferred to keep Dr. Simon away from her and farther away from Marcus. Like him, she had never liked the other woman. Blair shared his opinion that Carol Simon thought of him as nothing more than a potential research specimen. A thing to be exploited and not a person. Williams sometimes caught the good doctor checking _her _out too. Probably wants to find out what Marcus fires in there when we're doing it, Blair reflected cynically. All the sudden solicitous attention kind of caught the fighter pilot by surprise. Williams decided to keep her guard up. No telling what the doc was up to, but Blair hadn't stayed alive this long by being an easy target. I don't know what you think you're getting out of this doctor, but I'm not part of the deal. And neither is my husband.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Kate asked her ultimate father-in-law, watching Kyle Reese down a warm bowl of broth.

Seeing the young man awake and sitting up in bed, knowing his body was fighting off the virus that had claimed at least twenty lives and very nearly Kyle's too, Kate had trouble damping her reaction. She liked Kyle a lot, always had, but she couldn't help but think of what Reese conscious and healthy meant for John and her son, Robby. Part of her was still pissed at Carol Simon's underhanded actions, collecting Marcus's blood. But the other part of the red headed physician had to concede that Simon's foolhardy stunt had unintentionally saved a lot of lives. The antidote being produced from Marcus Wright's blood had been given to anyone affected by the disease with astonishing results. The cure sped thru the victim's bloodstreams dispatching the virus with a chemical glee no matter how sick the person was. Kate and her medics had gone from fighting to keep their patients alive to helping them regain their strength. They finally had a BIG win, she thought, as Kyle finished off the soup. He handed her the bowl.

"Guess I was hungry after all" he admitted sheepishly, blushing a little. "I still don't think I could stand up by myself" he grinned weakly, "but I feel…better. A lot better as a matter of fact. I don't feel like I got a terminator sitting on my chest any more, my head stopped hurting, I'm not freezing one second and burning up the next. It's all better."

"Good" Kate smiled. "That's great Kyle. You do need to stay in bed, but I'm going to get somebody to come and help you get cleaned up. That'll help even more. I have to go. Got other patients" she explained. She did. The war hadn't stopped because of the epidemic, wounded were still coming in. Some of them she would not be able to save.

"Kate" Kyle stopped her before she could leave. "What did happen to me? To all of us? What made us sick? And how did you fix it?" Reese wasn't sure why, but he felt like it was important to know.

Kate filled him in, trying to keep his somewhat fragile condition in mind. Kyle wasn't all that recovered yet. Unable to avoid it, she told him the whole story, inevitably getting to the part where Star had been kidnapped by the possum playing Teddy Sullivan. Reese reacted exactly like Kate thought he would.

"What?! He took Star? He took her right out from under all of you?! Nobody was watching out for her?! Why would he do that?! How could you let this happen?!" Kyle threw back the sheet and blanket covering him, preparing to get out of bed.

"Whoa! Whoa! What do you think you're doing Kyle?!" Kate rushed to stop him. "You can't get up! You cannot get up! Get back in this bed right now!" Kate ordered, fighting Kyle for control of the bedclothes. "I am NOT giving you permission to be out of bed! Settle down, Reese! That's an order!" Kate snapped.

"I don't care!" Kyle shouted his fear for Star overriding anything Kate said to him. "That…he kidnapped Star! I gotta go get her!" Reese's agitation grew.

"Kyle, you are not getting up and you're sure not going anywhere. You're in no condition to do either. I'm not sure you realize how close you came to being dead, but I do, and your body is not ready for anything even close to strenuous yet, so stop this! Right now. Don't make me have to strap you down!" Kate Brewster Connor, pound for pound was more than a match for her recalcitrant patient.

The threat got his attention. Trying to convince himself she wouldn't follow thru but knowing she would, Kyle sat back, frustrated.

"But Kate…but…" he couldn't go on, at a loss for words.

"I know" Kate soothed. "But Kyle, Marcus went after them. You know Marcus. You think he's going to let anything stop him from getting her back?" Kate chose to omit the part about two T-800's taking Star out of the dead Teddy Sullivan's hands. Ditto for John and the Apache resistance's involvement. No amount of restraint would keep Kyle Reese down if he heard that little bit of news.

"No" Kyle returned reluctantly. "No, I know Marcus's will get her back. I, I, I just…"

"I know Kyle. I feel the same way. But we have to trust Marcus. Trust in what he can do, in his capabilities. And we have to trust that he cares about Star as much as we do. You know he'll get her home safely. Now I really do have to go take care of my other patients. Can I trust _you_ to behave yourself and stay here and be a good patient?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be good" Reese responded, deflated.

"You give me your word?" Kate felt the need to extract a guarantee.

Kyle glanced up once, then back down. "I promise. I'll stay in bed and be the perfect patient" he finally gave up, sulking.

"Thank you" Kate said, gracious in victory. She left behind an unhappy Kyle Reese to go take up the balance of her demanding medical chores.

Bring her home Marcus, please bring her home. For all our sakes.

* * *

"Lucy Gray Moon." The Captain introduced as she shook hands with Marcus.

He'd broken cover after hearing their approach. A connoisseur when it came to sneaking, Wight appreciated when someone was good at it, and this group was. They'd been nearly on top of him before his sophisticated hearing picked up their stealthy arrival.

"Marcus" he replied briefly, inclining his head.

Except for the salt streaking the long black braid down her back, Gray Moon reminded him of Blair. Now that he knew his wife was recovering from the deadly virus, he felt ready to take on Skynet singlehanded. He missed her fiercely. He suppressed the sudden sharp pang of longing. It wouldn't help, and Star needed all his concentration. The Captain had eighteen men and women under her command. This, then, was the girl's rescue party, at least a portion of it.

"I understand they're headed for Los Alamos. How far behind them would you estimate we are?" Gray Moon asked, doing a clandestine inventory of the…man. Like many of her resistance compatriots, she'd heard about the one of a kind Marcus Wright. And, like many, struggled to find a category for him. Man or machine? She accepted he was a combination, but which part was truly in control? Guess it didn't matter. John Connor trusted him. That would have to be good enough. But it still made her a little jittery.

"Less than twenty clicks that way, but they're moving fast. If we're going to trap them between us" Marcus answered, "we gotta get moving even faster. Your people up for a run?" he asked. He decided to ignore the Captain's obvious uneasiness. He'd grown used to that guarded look by now. Trust me or don't lady. That's on you, just as long as it doesn't get in my way.

Gray Moon blinked, jitters replaced by irritation. Her eyes narrowed. Had Wright just issued a challenge? If so, she had no problem accepting. She was confident she and her soldiers could run the legs off any machine. Or any partial machine if it came to that, she sniffed.

"Up and moving _N'de, _and double up, we got tracks to cover." Countering with an unspoken challenge of her own, the Captain took off at a trot in the direction Marcus had indicated, her platoon forming behind her. Let's see _you_ keep up with _us, _white man. Or whatever you are.

Unseen by the disappearing Apache, Marcus's mouth arched in a crooked smile that did not quite reach his eyes. Whatever worked. He started after them, easily keeping pace. Hold on a little longer Star he thought as he ran. We're coming kid. We're coming.

* * *

John Connor brought the field glasses up for another careful look, body pressed close to the surface of the small mesa. Their non reflective drab coloring wouldn't give him away to the twosome of T-800's he studied thru their powerful lenses. True to form for Skynet, each of the killers stood over six feet. Broad shouldered and dark haired, their impassive faces carried their creator's stamp of inhumanity. Unhindered by the need for water or rest, the 8's were traveling steady.

Star's hands and feet were free but she was hoisted over the left shoulder of one of the cyborgs, being transported like a sack of animal feed. There was no covering over her mouth. That didn't surprise John. The 800's wouldn't be worried about the child calling for help. Who would hear her? And even if someone did, the terminators were incapable of worry. Their mission was to deliver Star to Los Alamos. With typical terminator single-mindedness they would kill anyone or thing which attempted to stop them from completing it.

"Is it them?" Barnes asked unnecessarily, stretched out on his belly to Connor's right side.

"Yeah, it's them" John answered, elbowing his was back from the mesa's edge. When he could no longer be seen by anyone on the desert floor, he stood upright and made his way back to Major Kozine and the main body of resistance fighters, Barnes copying his movements.

Everything was in position. Marcus, Captain Gray Moon and her force were poised on the other side of the narrow gorge the 800's were about to enter, silently awaiting Connor's signal to begin their advance. John breathed in and out, depending on instinct to tell him the right time to attack. They dared not move too soon or too quickly. They had to get this right, 'cause they would only have one shot at it. He looked over his shoulder at Kozine and Manny Serrano, the latter whose studious appearance belied his criminal past and resistance present. The tech expert had insisted on accompanying them. That was fine with John. The MIT grad turned bank robber turned resistance fighter would have to look out for himself just like everybody else.

The rocky terrain provided ample hiding places from which to launch the ambush but it was a potential problem too. The footing was on the treacherous side and any time was a lousy time for a busted ankle. Careful, careful, John. Haltingly, wanting at all costs to avoid alerting Star's machine captors, Connor, Barnes, and the remainder of their group started off, patiently navigating their way down the reddish brown stone.

Across the slender divide Lucy Gray Moon noticed the movement. At the nod of her head, her people began to move. The two halves of the attackers fanned out to cover their targets flanks. They'd purposely left the rear lightly defended. Nobody seriously considered the possibility the T-800's would fall back. Terminators didn't retreat.

Self-conscious, Marcus Wright trotted noiselessly along the top of the bluff, one step behind the Apache captain. He might be feeling rather foolish at the moment because of what he was wearing, but he wasn't going to take it off. Better to look stupid than to actually _be_ stupid, as in literally brainless as a result of what was about to happen. That was a risk he was not prepared to take, and Connor felt the same way. It was either this or hang back and let others rescue Star and that was not an option, so Marcus endured, no matter how goofy he felt.

John watched, involuntarily tensing as his targets came within range. His hand raised in readiness. He'd told Marcus the 8's had orders to let no harm come to Star. Praying he was right, his fingers spread. One by one the digits disappeared. Five…four…three…two…one-his hand clenched into a fist. NOW!

Kozine, slightly ahead and to Connor's left, stood up straight, clearly visible to the approaching terminators. His shrill war yell rang out, echoing off the craggy surfaces. As John had hoped, the 800 carrying Star flung the little girl off, obeying its' programmed need to be free to move about unburdened by anything but weapons during a fight. Her small frame hit the ground and rolled several feet, coming to rest in the shelter of a large boulder. Knowing what to do, Star curled into a tight ball, head down.

The second the child was clear, the next part of Connor's plan kicked in. Kozine dodged out of the way as the second 800 took aim and fired. With the Major's face buried in the turf, one of his squad leaders, a stocky corporal with the shoulder spread of a middle linebacker drew down on one of the terminators.

The weapon he used was not a gun in the traditional sense. If an RGP launcher and a laser gun had a baby after a wild night of unprotected sex, they might have produced something akin to what the corporal now turned on the deadly machines. He pulled the trigger.

A tightly focused beam of intense energy shot forth, accompanied by the sound of a dull **THUNK!** It slammed into the targeted T-800 like a tsunami. Unable to react in time, the affected terminator stiffened and fell backward, instantly neutralized as the EMP fried its internal circuitry and computer in a flash.

The second terminator was on the move, not waiting to suffer the fate of its counterpart. It charged forward like an angry rhino, moving on the humans trying to kill it. Continuously firing on the run, it managed to wound a couple of its' antagonists, one critically, but then its luck ran out. Lead punctured it from all directions.

Raising the RPG tube, Marcus let fly with the lethal projectile contained within. The 800 was annihilated as the rocket propelled grenade took its head off without slowing. The headless body crumpled as the explosive round pounded into the canyon wall explosively, destroying its grisly prize of the 8's head in the process.

Discarding the empty launcher, Marcus rushed forward, leaving any possible remaining threat to others to handle. Not caring who saw, he quickly scooped up Star, who'd uncurled from her ball and run to meet him. She hugged his neck so hard he got a little choked, but he did not prompt her to loosen her grip. Physically unable to cry, he shed inner tears of relief.

After about a minute, she drew back grinning like crazy. Marcus matched her, unashamedly happy. He retrieved her cap from inside his coat, plopping it on her head sideways. Frowning indignantly, she adjusted it. Marcus grinned wider. Star noticed Marcus's head. A childish frown of confusion appeared. She looked at him questioningly and pointed. His momentary bewilderment gave way to unaccustomed embarrassment. He snatched the hastily concocted tin foil cap from his head. No one had known if he would be affected by the EMP to be used on the 800's, but they hadn't wanted to chance it, and his aluminum hat, fashioned from the foil pouches of Gray Moon's platoon's MRE's was all they'd had to work with. A protective covering had been formed for him and he'd worn it, even if it did make him feel like a lot like a the-aliens-are-coming-to get- me crazy paranoid freak. He laughed a little.

"I'll explain later" he told her, reluctant to put her down.

John Connor walked up, amusedly noting the contented man and girl. He refrained from commenting, but he didn't need to. The look in his eyes said it all.

"What?" Marcus asked a little challengingly. He was happy Star was safe and free and didn't mind showing it. If somebody wanted to give him grief about it he was prepared to give them some grief right back, even if that somebody was John Connor.

Connor threw up both hands, diffusing Wright's defensiveness. "Nothing, didn't say a word. We better get moving. We don't want to be around here too long." He touched Star on her back treating her to a rare smile. "I'm glad you're okay" he told the child. She smiled back. "Major, Captain" John turned to the Chiricahua officers, "let's get going." Barnes was helping gather up the wounded and tending to other business. The General looked behind Marcus, a peculiar look coming into his eyes. He moved away slowly, a smugness taking over the corners of his mouth. This should be interesting. Barnes got his attention. In the Colonel's dark strong hands were Carol Simon's plastic vials of samples.

"Torch 'em" John Connor ordered. The containers were quickly destroyed.

Wanting very much not to, Marcus set Star on her feet, both her hands right away gripping his left one firmly. "Come on kid. Let's go home." She grinned again and nodded vigorously. Before he could take a step, he heard his name.

"_Hola_, Marcus."

Marcus froze, rooted to the spot. It couldn't be. This wasn't possible, was it? He turned with agonizing slowness, certain his mind was messing with him. Maybe the EMP had somehow affected him anyway, despite the precautions taken. Maybe life in apocalypse land had finally sent him round the bend. That had to be it because he couldn't be hearing what he thought he'd just heard. Afraid to trust what his eyes were telling him Marcus still did not move. It was impossible, incredible and true. Standing three feet away, looking older but otherwise largely unchanged, was one of the few men Marcus had and ever would trust with his life, Manuel Serrano.

Marcus straightened, his head tilting. "Manny?" he queried softly.

Serrano's sly smile spanned a distance of twenty years. "_¿Cómo estás, __hermano?" _Manny asked. "Long time no see."

* * *

"I've missed you too, Kate. It'll feel good to get home so I can put my arms around you, run my hands thru that hair of yours and hold our son again" John Connor told his wife. He spoke softly so as not to be overheard by the contingent of resistance soldiers nearby. Since they were technically still in disputed territory, no one, including him, thought it would be a good idea for him to go off by himself. Still, he wanted to have a private conversation with Kate. In deference to his wishes, they'd tried to give him as much distance as possible while he contacted her over the DECAT.

He also wanted an update on the status of the virus that had so affected his home base. He was greatly relieved to find out that many of those stricken with the disease had recovered, Kyle Reese in particular. Too many lives were claimed before an antidote was found, but at least no one else would be lost, at least not for that reason. He'd have liked to have had a full briefing on everything that went on during his absence but too much time on the air was a bad idea with Skynet constantly trying to pinpoint him. He hated to do it but…

"Listen, Kate, I love you very much but I have to go. We're going to be on the move soon, and I still need to grab some chow and I think I should probably drain the main vein before we start out" John finished, feeling it his husbandly duty to inject a little bathroom humor into this rather serious contact with his spouse. He could feel Kate's smile over the many miles that separated them.

"Oh John, you romantic fool" she shot back with mock sarcasm. "Be careful, and hurry home. I love you. Base out." She was gone.

Grinning, Connor shut his communicator down and turned to rejoin the group. He settled down next to Colonel Barnes, who promptly handed him a plate of what looked like a de-foiled MRE. Potatoes and carrots, it appeared to be, with a generous supply of rehydrated sauce to temper the taste. Yet another reason to get back home. It was hardly a five star restaurant, but Jane Wilmer and her cooks beat an MRE for a satisfying meal to hell and back the long way.

"Thanks" Connor acknowledged, accepting the offering. He looked across the camp to where Star, Marcus Wright and Manuel Serrano were somewhat isolated from everyone else, the men heads down, talking quietly. At the moment, Marcus was doing most of the talking. Manny stared into the banked fire, built underneath the shelter of a large rock formation, mainly listened, nodding ruefully. Whatever the conversation was about, it seemed on the intense side. Star, exhausted by her frightening ordeal, slept nearby, within arm's length of Marcus.

"How long has that been going on?" he asked Barnes, shaking his head in the direction of the two reunited friends.

"Hmm, awhile" the other replied. Barnes shrugged. "They got a lot of catching up to do." The Colonel gave it no more thought. As long as it didn't concern or harm John Connor or the resistance, Marcus Wright's business wasn't his.

Across the way, out of earshot, the former partners in crime were busy clearing away the debris of two decades.

"You were really gonna try and bust me out? You and Les and Alex? Out of max security? Death row? I gotta say it Manny. I'm glad you didn't try it. You were three of the ballsiest bastards I ever met, but I'm glad you didn't try it. We wouldn't be having this conversation right now" Marcus told Serrano, shaking his head.

"We must have hatched a thousand plans" Manny admitted, "each one more outlandish than the last. Every one of them got shot down. Alex, you know that _eres muy loco _Haitian wanted to shell the prison?" Manny laughed shortly. "I'm serious. He wanted to get a hold of some heavy weapons from those anti-government survivalist's we met in Idaho and lob bombs at the prison until they released you."

Marcus chuckled, then sobered. "Do you know if Alex made it? Or Les?" he asked.

"No, I don't, not for sure. If Les is alive, she's probably hooked up with some resistance unit, but I haven't heard from her and I've kept my ears open for word. Alex, I don't know, Marcus. Knowing him, he probably tried to charge the main gate at Skynet Central in San Francisco with a forty-five."

Marcus laughed again, remembering the dark skinned Alex Cordell. Although he'd possessed the heart of a bull, Alex had always had a tendency to close his eyes and jump, not caring what might be waiting for him. Marcus could usually manage to rein in the big man's impulsiveness, but the quality had kept the whole crew on their toes. Who knew what Alex was likely to try next?

Manny had already shared with Marcus that Manny's wife Maria and the couple's daughter Alicia had not survived the outgrowth of Judgment Day. The Serrano women had ridden out the initial assault in a small town in Colorado. They'd gone there to meet Manny, still a fugitive from the law, and stayed when Maria realized the tiny hamlet was in severe need of a physician. Maria, her child and the others who lived past the first horrors of that time had not stood a chance when Skynet's terminators and H-K's swept in on foot and by air, killing anything that moved. Devastated that he had been late getting there and had, therefore, been unable to protect his family, Manny had yet to forgive himself.

"Manny, you know I loved Maria. She was a great woman, and definitely the best thing to ever happen to you." Marcus smiled gently, nudging his old pal. "And Alicia, I was there the day she was born, remember? I saw the look on your face when you held her for the first time. She was a beautiful kid. But if you'd been there, the only thing that would be different is that you'd be dead too."

Wright's words might seem harsh to anybody else listening, but from experience, Marcus knew what would serve Serrano best when he was in this kind of mood was straight talk. Manny was a good guy to have at your back during a fight or a robbery. And he was the smartest person Marcus had ever met. But there was no way anyone could have known the kind of havoc Skynet would unleash. This was guilt Serrano didn't deserve. It grieved Marcus to hear of Maria and her daughter's deaths. He'd always liked Manny's wife, ever since the night she'd patched him up after he'd nearly been knifed to death by a couple of outlaw bikers when he was eighteen. She'd loved Manny completely, before, during and in spite of his lawless days. Manny would mourn her until the day he died. And Wright had bounced little Alicia on his knee more than once, something that would have surprise many of the people who knew him in the present.

"I'm sorry about Sammy and Sean" Manny said. "Just so you know, the Soames's, they claimed Sam's body, give him a good burial. I think Sean's grandfather came over from Ireland and took him home to be interred."

Marcus nodded. He'd known about what happened with Sam's remains already. Billy had informed him. Now it was Wright's turn to stare into the flames, lost in thought. Serrano interrupted them.

"Sam was a grown man Marcus. He made his own choices. We all did." Manny pointed out, correctly interpreting the look in his old friend's eyes.

"He and those Rangers would still be alive if it wasn't for some of the choices I made, Manny" Marcus objected. He would never, could never allow his conscience to wriggle off that hook.

"You don't know that for sure" Serrano answered. "None of us do. And the fact is, even if it were true, _no podemos cambiar ahora, eh? _There's nothing we can do to change it now, is there? _W_e can't always outrun our demons, _mi amigo. _Sometimes we can only find a way to make peace with the fact that they'll always be there." The wisdom of the statement was irrefutable and difficult to apply.

"Manny" Marcus began, hating to bring it up, "there's something about me you need to know." He dreaded what he had to tell Serrano, but Manny deserved the whole truth.

"You have a metal framework underneath there" Manuel Serrano said, beating him to it. "Did you think I didn't already know? I was outside Longview the day they put the needle in your arm. I hardly thought you were an apparition. And anyway, you're famous Marcus. You don't realize that? Word about someone with a human brain and a terminator body kind of gets around_. _Travels a little different these days, but it travels. I think I'm smart enough to figure out what it all means."

"It…doesn't…it doesn't bother you?" Marcus didn't like to show it, but as he had with Billy Soames, needed the verbal reassurance. The only one that he'd never needed to tell him out loud that it made no difference to them was Blair.

Serrano sighed. "There are times, Marcus, when you can be a little thick. If it bothered me, would I be here talking to you like this? Skynet might have changed the way you're built, _mano, _but when I look in there" Manny finished, pointing at Marcus's blue eyes with a finger," I see you, not that damn murdering AI. Can we stop talking about this now, before we feel the need to start hugging?"

Marcus snickered. "Yeah, well nobody wants that. You hungry?"

"I am" Manuel answered truthfully, "but I think we waited too long. Here comes the Major. I think we're ready to move out."

Serrano was correct. Kozine and Gray Moon led the way, spreading their people out in a routine combat patrol formation for the return trip.

Marcus picked up the sleeping Star, wrapping her arms around his neck. He carried her easily. For him, she weighed almost nothing. Manny walked next to him in silence for a time, then, "How well do you know Connor? What type of a man is he? What type of a leader? How far do you think he would be willing to go to hurt Skynet? What's he willing to risk?"

"You've met him. You've talked to him. I'm sure you've made up your own mind by now" Marcus replied, intrigued by the questions. His long acquaintance with Manny gave him an edge. He could see lights coming on in his friend's mind.

"Yes, but you've known him longer, been around him. Watched him lead the resistance. I would like the opinion of someone that I trust" Serrano said.

"You've got something in mind, Manny" Marcus answered flatly, fixing Manny with a penetrating stare. "What is it? Spit it out. Just tell me. Then I'll let you know if I think Connor will go for it. And by the way, there's nothing he won't do to destroy Skynet. He's about that more than any of us. Now spill" he ordered. Manny did, and Marcus listened, a dangerous gleam igniting behind his passive expression.

* * *

**Author's note: End of chapter 5 but not the story. There is much more to come, (I hope) Hope to see you in chapter 6. As always, constructive reviews are welcomed and appreciated. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: We all know the drill by now but like good soldiers, we do it all the same. I don't have any connection, financial, creatively or otherwise to any of the Terminator movies, franchise or characters (Kinda wish I did, I could use the moola). Original characters are mine, which I'm mostly proud of, except when they behave badly. On with the story…**

Viral- Chapter 6

Be Careful What You Ask For…

"We know Skynet's released the virus elsewhere" Connor informed Serrano. "This wasn't the only resistance or human gathering affected. Our radio traffic's given us that much. Why is it you're asking? What is it that you think you know?" To John, Manuel Serrano remained an unknown quantity. Trust wouldn't be given until it was earned.

Leaving the Chiricahua encampment behind, John, Barnes and Marcus, accompanied by Manny Serrano had finally reached home base after several days of hard, steady travel. Along the way, Connor noticed that Marcus and Manny seemed to spend a fair amount of time huddled apart, discussing something. Apparently, Serrano had a plan he wanted to run past his old boss first. John had no idea what, but figured he'd find out soon enough. Whatever it was seemed to intrigue Marcus Wright a great deal and _that_ intrigued John Connor. His relatively brief acquaintance with the latter day thief gave him an insight about an aspect of Wright's personality. If something was interesting enough to get Marcus's attention, it might be a good time to gun up. They'd have to get Connor's OK on whatever the two were thinking about doing, but eventually they would. John wondered much time it would take before the two came to him about their conversations. The wait was short.

The morning after their return home, Connor resumed his normal routine, if any day of his could be called that. Getting back up to speed with his commanders and caught up with everything that had taken place in his absence gobbled most of the next few days in huge chunks. Prosecuting the war never ceased from either the human or machine side. At least the killer epidemic caused by the deadly and as yet unnamed virus was abating thanks to the serum Kate and Carol Simon were able to generate using the immunities in Marcus Wright's blood. No more new cases had appeared and those who'd survived were slowly being nursed back to complete health.

Lucky for everyone although only a few knew it, that included Kyle Reese. John was not certain how Reese's death would have affected him, Kate or Robby, but now would not have to find out. And he liked Kyle too. Connor was seeing more and more of himself in the young man, not really a surprising thing, since Reese was his past/future father. It isn't hard to figure out what drew him and my mother together, or what will, he corrected. Sarah Connor had been right, he thought, agreeing with one of her more frequent observations. It could make a person crazy if they stopped to think about it too much. Since he couldn't very well discuss it with Kyle and almost no one else, Connor was relieved that he had Kate talk to about it all. From the beginning she'd always been his lover, best friend, strongest ally and ablest sounding board.

Kyle didn't lack for company when Connor or Kate were busy elsewhere, which was most of the time. After checking to make sure that Blair was on the mend to her satisfaction, Star left Marcus to see to his wife and went in search of her original hero, Kyle. Without waiting for permission from any of the medical staff, she ran to Reese's bed, clambering up to park her little body by his side, happy that he was awake and talking. Bringing along her favorite book for him to read to her, she would fall asleep to the security inducing sound of his voice. Not too long afterwards, Kyle would be snoring softly. It was usually left to the attending nurse or medic to lay Star down on an adjacent cot and turn the light out over Kyle's.

Everyone had given up trying to pry Blair's husband from her side. The two weren't literally joined at the hip but they might as well have been. He baldly ignored any and all requests for him to _please_ _go away_. Blair slept wrapped in his arms, which was touching but made taking care of her difficult. Marcus, who'd learned how to cook in his teen years out of necessity, muscled his way into the camp kitchen to personally prepare most of her meals. Normally easygoing, head cook Jane Wilmer who really did like Marcus and Blair, gritted her teeth and tried to be understanding about the unwelcome incursion into her territory. When Williams was released to finish her convalescence in her own quarters, half the base heaved a thunderous sigh of relief.

The only short amount of time Marcus left her side in the first few days after his return was to go and find Manuel Serrano so Wright could fulfill a promise. Ushering Manny in to his and Blair's quarters, Marcus made the introductions and then waited. Manny was polite, but couldn't resist a jab at the other man's expense.

"I had to meet the woman with the chichi's to take on Mad Marcus" he said, grinning and shaking Blair's hand and cutting an arch look at his old pal.

"Watch your mouth" Marcus chided with mock outrage**. **"My wife is a lady, you ignorant jackass."

Blair laughed at the exchange. Serrano's presence had an effect on her man. One she liked. When Marcus found out Billy Soames had survived JD, it restored a part of him he'd not been aware was missing. Manny Serrano alive and well put back another piece back into place. That made Blair very happy. They all deserved to recover as much of their past lives from Skynet's destruction as they could. Marcus too, no matter how grievous the mistakes of his former life.

Five days after being sprung from medical, seven days following Marcus's homecoming, Blair's strength came roaring back and along with it, her fierce desire to jump back into the fight against the machines. Marcus watched with a mix of amusement and well disguised concern as she began lobbying to return to the air. He knew flying was deep in her bones and loved her warrior spirit, but every time she climbed into the cockpit, the possibility that she might not return climbed in with her. For Marcus that was a terrifying thought that he could never voice to anyone. With Billy, Kyle and just about everyone else around him resuming their own combat duties, having Manny Serrano to present possible new ideas for attacking Skynet and its' tools helped distract him from worry over Blair. It was almost like old times, Marcus and Manny hashing out the details of a job. Only this one would not have the law tracking them. Their opponent this time was far more dangerous than any cops or pack of bloodhounds.

Manny had been talking Marcus's ear off for days. Marcus finally cut him off. "It's time for Connor to hear this" he told Serrano.

They found the General having breakfast. Manny got right to the point.

"I think Skynet's planning a dirty bomb, maybe more than one" he stated without inflection.

John Connor stopped chewing momentarily then started again. He glanced over at Marcus, who was seated with his back propped against the tent's one earthen wall, arms crossed over his chest. The ex-outlaw's expression was unreadable. Connor looked back at Manuel Serrano.

"Convince me" John stated simply.

"I've been making…forays into Skynet's systems since before Judgment Day" The computer expert said as calmly as if commenting on the unusual mildness of the early autumn day.

Connor put down his fork, reconstituted scrambled eggs forgotten. "Say that again?"

Serrano smiled ever so slightly. "I hacked systems for a living" he reminded the General. "Not all of them were banks. Some were…government related. Defense contractors and military institutions had things of value. Things worth, uh, liberating."

Marcus stared at the floor, still expressionless. Ah, those good old days. He and his crew hadn't solely concentrated on stealing cash.

Manny continued, bringing John's attention back to him. "One of those government systems was Skynet. At first I didn't realize what I was into. By the time I did, it was too late. I certainly didn't realize that _bastardo _AI was planning to murder half the planet" he added bitterly. "Maria, my little Alicia…" Serrano trailed off, trapped in the painful memory.

"Manny" Marcus jolted gently pulling his friend back to the present.

Manny went on. "Once I… I knew we'd have to find a way to kill it, to finish it before it finishes us. I have a, a technical mind, General. I, I guess you could say I think like a computer. I suppose that's one reason manipulating them has always come easy to me." He seemed almost shamed by the admission. "Long story short, I left myself a way back in. To hurt your enemy, you first have to study your enemy, to know him, or **it** in this case. A very smart man taught me that a long time ago." Serrano cocked an eyebrow at Marcus. "I wanted to get to know Skynet. To know as much about it as I could so that when the time is right, I can do the most damage. And I've learned a great deal. A lot of its plans, schemes. Some of the things it's working on to use against us. Advanced chips its installing in the H-K's and plans for more deadly, harder to kill terminators. Stuff like that. During one of my… one of the things I happened across were numerous files on bio warfare. Experimentation the U.S. and other governments had been involved in for years. Highly classified material most of us would never dream existed. Things the government denied right up until the point there was no more government. I couldn't imagine what Skynet would do with it. It uses nukes and machines to kill us. I…it didn't seem to me that germs and disease would work fast enough to satisfy Skynet. I did not give it much attention, until I came here, until I found out about your epidemic. It makes a lot more sense now."

"What are you saying" Connor asked skeptically. "You think Skynet's behind the virus? How's that even possible?"

"I'd need to get a look at the chemical makeup of the disease to be sure" Manny hedged, "but thanks to all of those years with my wife, she was a doctor, I have more than a minimal knowledge of such things. Yes, I think Skynet sicced this virus on you. Maybe not John Connor's camp specifically. I doubt even Skynet's aim is that accurate. But humans in general, yes, I think it was deliberate and it had to be Skynet. Tell me please, how and when did the illness appear and first start to spread?"

"I won't answer that yet" John told him. Still looking at Manny, Connor tossed over his shoulder to a nearby sentry, "go find Colonel Barnes and Colonel Thompson and Majors Gentry, Garrison and Perry. Also my wife and" after some hesitation, "Dr. Carol Simon. Have them come to CHQ." The woman hustled off, obeying her orders. "I want them all to hear what you have to say, particularly the doctors. Hold your thoughts" he told Serrano.

Once everyone was assembled in the large below ground room currently functioning as the command bunker, Connor prompted Manuel Serrano.

"Tell them what you've told me. Start from the beginning please" John requested.

So Manny started over, revealing his knowledge of Skynet's inner workings and some of the insight's he'd gained into their murderous adversary. Partially into his recitation a snort of derision was heard from Matt Garrison, earning the Major a cold look of rebuke from John Connor.

"I want to be sure I understand this" Kate put in. "You think Skynet somehow infected Teddy Sullivan, he was our patient zero" she explained, "with the virus and then_ planted_ him underneath all those dead bodies from the attack for us to find?" she didn't sound convinced.

"It clicks, Kate" Marcus interjected. "Something felt wrong about him all along" Wright admitted, finally giving voice to the nagging suspicion that had dogged him about Sullivan from the first day he'd heard about the man being found by Perry's unit.

"Go on" Connor urged.

Taking a deep breath and expelling it, Marcus expounded. "Skynet doesn't do anything half-assed. When it kills, it's thorough. It considers us its enemy, and it wouldn't leave a live one behind it. Everybody and everything was dead except for Sullivan. Everybody. That hasn't felt right since I heard about it. I agree with Manny. I think Skynet pumped Teddy full of germs and pointed him at the nearest resistance force like a loaded double barrel. It was just pure dumb luck that when he went off, it was here."

"Let's say you're right" Barnes said, speaking for the first time. "Let's say Sullivan was deliberately set up to do what you say he was. Why? And how do you get from there to a dirty bomb?"

"It was test" Marcus answered for Serrano. "Skynet was casing the joint." He smiled cynically. "Before you go in, you always recon. Stick a toe in the water, test things out. You need to find out how difficult the job may turn out to be, what kind of problems you're likely to run into, get the lay of the land, like that. I think that's what this was. Skynet wanted to find out how easy it would be to put a cat in with the pigeons. How fast is it gonna spread, how many people could it kill? This was a test case, a field experiment. And it worked pretty well. After Teddy was a hit, it sent out more infected people to be 'found' by other resistance forces."

"It would have no way to gather in the data" Carol Simon objected. "How would Skynet know whether or not the test was successful?"

"If Sullivan was a plant, then he was also a spy. We know Skynet can do that, and we wouldn't have slightest idea" Marcus answered, reminding them all, that he, Marcus, had once been used by Skynet in the very same way.

"Now you're speculating that he had a chip implanted that enabled Skynet to control him and gather intel" Kate challenged. "You can't know that. None of us can."

"Kate, you and all the other docs thought this guy was down for good, dying" Wright stated clearly. "Yet the second your backs were turned, he pops up like a freakin' jack-in-the-box, assaults Abby, grabs Star, injects her with just the precise amount of an immobilizing drug, grabs those vials that were never supposed to exist" he paused to shoot a frosty look at Simon, who colored, "and then makes a beeline for a rendezvous with a pair of T-800's. You think he made all that happen on his own? Come Kate, you've got a military mind. Do you believe that? And something else; Skynet made a mistake with the chip it put in my head. It NEVER makes the same mistake twice. If Teddy Sullivan had a control chip, you can bet the thing was a damn sight more powerful than the one I ripped out of mine."

"Point taken" Connor responded, "Alright, let's concede Sullivan was used by Skynet to test out a bio weapon. And, because it fits, we also assume Skynet stuck a chip in his head that enabled it to conduct surveillance like it did with you" he said referring back in the same way Marcus had. That still doesn't explain why you think a dirty bomb is in the works, or that Skynet plans to use one on us."

"Sir, it all falls into place" Major Perry volunteered. "Everything Skynet does is connected to something else it has planned. It wouldn't just set this virus loose here and there and hope for the best. Mr. Serrano, he's right when he says disease wouldn't be fast enough to suit Skynet. Not unless it could find a way to deploy it on a mass scale. A biological dirty bomb would do that, sir. Skynet knows how to do WMD's. After all, it used our own against us. It's no stretch that it would get around to building some of its own. And a dirty bomb could be targeted. It'd cause less damage than a nuke, but it would accomplish the same result. We die in large numbers and Skynet inherits the earth."

"I don't believe it" Garrison blustered. "For all we know such a thing isn't even possible."

"It is possible" Manny insisted. "I told you, I've seen the plans."

"You saw something!" Major Garrison argued. "You can't be sure what you saw was plans for a DB. Your thing is computers and tech stuff. You're not a weapons expert."

Serrano regarded the other man steadily. "I know more about weapons than you think I do" he returned in a deceptively level tone.

"If Manny says he saw Skynet plans for a dirty bomb, I believe him" Marcus put in.

"You would" Garrison hissed, "but one thief vouching for another don't mean a lot, now does it?"

Marcus's eyes narrowed.

"That's enough, Major Garrison" Connor snapped. Marcus was reformed these days, but he didn't tolerate being disrespected. The abrasive Matt Garrison probably had no idea how close he'd come to having the head he had stuck up his ass joined by Marcus Wright's foot.

"Time to move on. We'll accept the premise that Skynet is planning to hit us with some sort of a biological version of a DB. Alright, what do we do about it? How do we stop it? 'Cause I have no intention of allowing it to be used, even once."

"Glad you finally asked, Connor" Marcus replied voice only barely above a whisper. "Manny and me, we've been…kicking around a couple of ideas."

John Connor recognized the wild glow banked in Wright's eyes. Mad Marcus was back.

"And I can tell you this for sure." Marcus said, losing the gambler's gleam and giving Connor a serious look the resistance leader had never seen before. Connor was inexplicably uneasy. This Marcus he had not met until this moment.

"You're not gonna like it" Wright finished.

"And why is that?" John asked. Marcus told him. He's right, John Connor thought when Wright was finished. I don't like it. But given what they feared Skynet planned to do, did they have a choice?

John did not sleep that night. Of course, he poured out his concerns to Kate, but they were both well aware that the final say rested in his hands alone. This was the type of decision Sarah Connor had tried to prepare him for from his earliest days. His mother had done an incredible job readying him to be the man he had no choice but to become. That did not make this task easier. His was far from the only future at risk here. Despite Marcus Wright's physical reality, Connor had come to respect the fact that Marcus still thought of himself as a man and that Blair thought of him as one too. If John green lit Wright's audacious plan and then things went south, the happiness he and Blair Williams had fought so hard to create for themselves by their unique union would be destroyed. John had to weigh that against the threat posed to the rest of humanity. Watching the sunrise the next day, he sighed heavily, slipped out quietly to avoid waking Kate and the baby, and went to find Marcus.

"I'm giving my consent to let this go forward on one condition" he stated to Marcus, getting straight to the point.

"And that condition is?" Wright questioned, putting aside the gun whose firing mechanism he was in the process of repairing.

"You have to get it past your wife" Connor told him plainly. How about that, John considered a little while later as he left the armory to get back into his other command duties. He'd always thought Marcus Wright impossible to rattle. He wouldn't ever be able to think that again.

* * *

"Repeat that please" Connor asked softly, later that day. It was not a question. This ought to be rich. After some time around Wright, John understood how the other man had managed to become such a thorn in the side of law enforcement. Raw nerve could take you a long way, raw nerve and brains, which Marcus possessed in abundance, even further. He wasn't about to let his appreciation of Marcus's talents turn his head though. This was such an enormous risk, no one, least of all himself, could afford to be anything but coldly rational about the prospects of success.

Marcus's confidence remained. John Connor always kept one eye trained on the big picture, but the man had stones the size of those on the bull sculpture that once stood on Wall Street in Manhattan. He'd go for it once he heard the whole plan. No worries.

Marcus repeated what he'd said just moments before. He and Manny had already presented Connor with the first half of the plan they'd been hatching since rescuing Star and heading for home from the Apache base. Since John had given the go ahead for the initial stages and Blair was now on board, although not without _serious_ convincing on her husband's part, Wright was hitting the General with part deux, equally as brazen, if not more so, than his proposal of the day before.

"We're going to steal a big hunter-killer. That's why we need the pilots in on this one from the jump. They have to come together with the computer brains like Manny here and Lawler and Donnelly. H-K's do their killing in the air. So do our pilots. They can get inside the thing's head a lot easier than I ever could and-"

He was about to explain further when Major Garrison overrode him. "You cannot be damn serious?! We've never been able to get our hands on a completely operative one of those things. Not even a small one, let alone one of the destroyer sized craft! Stealing one isn't possible, and even if we could pull it off, which we can't, those things were never meant to accommodate human pilots, remember?" Garrison spat sarcastically. "Just how the hell did you plan on flying the thing? You're out of your friggin' mind and you're wasting all our time, especially, yours, General Connor!"

"I was getting to that Major" Marcus replied, so calmly that it caused Manny Serrano to sit up straight, giving Wright a wary look. The Mexican knew that casual tone in his friend's voice usually meant that Marcus was about ten seconds away from dispensing a painfully pointed lesson in good manners.

Before Skynet did its thing and blew up three quarters of the humans on the planet, criminals, like any other society, had possessed their own code of acceptable behaviors around one another. Heavily armed people with fast tempers who were used to making up their own rules were liable to treat each other with a healthy measure of civility. It might have been false politeness, but among their kind, you could be rude one minute and dead the next, so most of 'em played nice when they were sharing the same space. From his social peers, Marcus Wright had always been accorded exquisite respect for very good reason. Not many of the resistance fighters were familiar with that Marcus. They didn't want to be, not ever, but if Garrison didn't shut up…

"Major" John Connor spoke, "Marcus is talking right now. Until he's done, you will not speak again unless called upon to do so. Is that clear?"

Connor's quiet edict sucked the air from the smallish room. His hazel eyes burned a hole thru the bombastic Garrison.

Garrison nodded speechlessly then sank back in his chair, reddening with embarrassment.

John turned to look at Marcus. "Finish your presentation please."

Marcus's ocean blue eyes were alight with amusement. That had been fun to witness. Oh well, enough play time. Back to work.

"Major Garrison is correct" Marcus said lightly. "The H-K's have never been intended to be fit around a human pilot. We can be certain they don't even have a cockpit. No need for one. From the beginning, they've flown without humans, correct?"

"Right" Colonel Michael Thompson, the air wing boss responded simply. "Skynet controls them remotely, and with a near perfect record." He didn't want it to be, but the Colonel's curiosity was up. "We've shot down some of 'em, but it's not easy to do. Their skin is the devil to penetrate and the speed and maneuverability of those things is crazy. Blair can tell you that. Going up against 'em, we've lost more than we've won." The admission was tragically true. Too many of his pilots had died under the laser cannons of Skynet's aerial killers. "One of the Destroyer class birds carries enough firepower to kill a city, if we still had any" Thompson completed somewhat bitterly. The air commander ran a dark chocolate brown hand thru his short, course hair.

"Skynet controls them remotely" Manuel Serrano repeated. "Sauce for the goose." He said no more, waiting for his audience to catch up. It was no surprise who got there first.

"You're thinking we can take an H-K over and control it remotely" Connor stated the incredulous implication aloud.

"That's how Skynet does it" Marcus said again, "and if Skynet can do it, so can we."

"You think we can out-program Skynet?" Barnes asked doubtfully.

"Skynet is a human creation" Marcus argued. "It was originally conceived of and programmed by us" he said, including himself as one of them because he had and always would consider it to be so. "I don't care how advanced it's become, a_nything_ it does we can do better."

"There's one thing I don't understand" Major Monica Gentry said, contributing for the first time. "Let's say we do this. Get our hands wrapped around the CPU of an H-K and take it over. Then what? What are we supposed to do with it? Hot rod it around the neighborhood? We sure as hell can't keep the thing. We'd even have trouble finding a place to hide it. That's if we can think of a way to disable the GPS so Skynet can't track it. Even if we get a hold of one, we couldn't possibly hold on to it, so what's the point?"

"We don't want to hold on to it" Marcus answered, still unflappable. "We're not going to keep it, at least not for long… We'll be sending it home to mama, with a few alterations."

"You propose to swipe an H-K from Skynet and then give them back?" Connor questioned. "To what end? And how does this help with keeping us from being nailed with a biological bomb?"

"Skynet's facilities are hardened. Always have been, right?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, that's right" John confirmed. "When we target one, we have to hit it with everything we have." Such a thing, Connor did not have to say, stretched the resistance's already limited resources to near exhaustion.

"How well do you think a Skynet base would stand up against bombardment by one of its own machines?" Marcus asked. Before that question could be answered he put forth another. "And how much do you think it would set Skynet back if we parked it the same lab it used to manufacture the virus and cook up the bomb?

Still stinging from John Connor's earlier reprimand, Matt Garrison hesitantly inched his hand up. The attitude was modified for now, Connor saw, but John knew it wouldn't last. Better get it while it's hot.

"Yes, Major Garrison?" Connor recognized the officer.

"Sir" Garrison started in a subdued voice, "if we do this, I mean succeed in getting the H-K and the RC takeover and everything, we don't know where Skynet is keeping either the virus or the bomb. Before we can kamikaze a hunter-killer into a Skynet lab, we need to know which one to send it after."

The Major's tone wasn't combative, but his eyes held an unfriendly challenge as he glared at Marcus.

If Marcus was worried, he didn't show it. He was prepared for the question. He and Manny had spent hours discussing it, after all. They'd brought up and eliminated a lot of possibilities, finally narrowing it down to the likeliest one. If they were wrong, Skynet would get a big jump ahead in its quest to kill off humanity. But Marcus didn't think they were wrong. Between him and Manny, he'd stack their experience at picking targets up against any of the resistance's most seasoned personnel, including John Connor. When he spoke, he wasn't cocky, just sure.

"It's kind of obvious. Think about it. The lab is in the region. Close enough for Skynet to be able to dispatch machines to do its dirty work, close enough for them to get back in an optimal amount of time, after doing what they were sent to do. It would be shielded against attack, whether an enemy stumbles across it or aggresses by design. It's maybe even camouflaged for good measure. The war's taken a toll on Skynet too. We've hit it hard and often. If we can't rest it can't either. It needs every high tech scientific or weapons producing facility it can hold on to, so it'll go to a lot of trouble to protect this one. It can't have too many places left in this part of the U.S. that fit that description, but this one does. There's got to be a reason the terminators were ordered to bring Star there. It's the only place that lab could be."

"Los Alamos" Connor guessed correctly. Marcus was right. The choice was obvious.

"Yes" Marcus agreed, "Los Alamos. Maybe you want to get in touch with the Chiricahua again. They're right on the way. Might as well pick 'em up, as long as we're heading in that direction."

* * *

_Los Alamos, New Mexico. When humans were spread like a blanket over the earth, the facility had been considered one of the U. S.'s premier research facilities. Some of the most brilliant minds the world would later lose reported for work there every day. LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratories) could arguably lay claim to being at the forefront of mostly every significant scientific, medical, technological or military weapons advancement or discovery to be known by mankind since its founding during WW II. Conceived primarily as a womb for the famous Manhattan Project, the American nuclear bomb program, Los Alamos, watered and tended by a potent combination of money, unbounded ambition and genius, bloomed in the New Mexican desert like the proverbial midnight rose. _

_Unknown to John Connor or any other Judgment Day survivor, several of the brains responsible for Skynet, including Dr. Myles Bennett Dyson, had cut their techie teeth at LANL. Happily researching and theorizing away in near total secrecy among their arid surroundings, the science types one day found themselves abruptly spirited away to become part of a fledgling project jointly underwritten by Cyberdyne Systems and the United States Air Force. Something called "Skynet." General Robert Brewster, Dyson and their fellows never imagined that one day their innovative creation would rise to consume them. _

_Shielded immeasurably prior to that horrible day, Los Alamos still sustained appreciable damage during the nuclear trade-off and the time that followed. The militarist's charged with supervision of the valuable real estate of LANL crawled out from under the carnage of JD to wage a fiercer than expected battle with the AI for their lives and their labs. At last Skynet was able to seize control of Los Alamos from its human originators, appropriating all the vast potential of the place for machine purposes. Freed from interference by people, Skynet quickly restored the facility to its prior efficiency and instituted security measures far beyond anything previously in place. The rooms were soon humming machinelike with R&D once more, none of it to benefit the previous tenants. _

_One of the first things the supercomputer did was to fortify the precious asset against human assault. If they were unable to control it, Skynet reasoned, humans would most probably attempt to destroy Los Alamos, much the same as they desired for Skynet. The AI did everything it could think of to buttress protections of the laboratories. It applied every vestige of military knowledge within its banks to the problem, studying and attempting to counter all possible methods of attack from every angle and direction. Never sleeping, earthbound and aerial guardians patrolled the perimeters ceaselessly. Periodically it would review all measures taken, vigilant against its enemy. The humans could not hurt this place. It would require a massive onslaught by the AI's own machines to destroy the immense complex. Skynet was satisfied that could never happen. No matter what clever strategies they entertained, humans lacked that capability. Los Alamos was impervious. _

* * *

**Author's note: That does it for chapter 6. As always, constructive reviews are welcome. Ok, I'm taking a survey. What's the craziest thing you ever let your friends talk you into? 'fess up if you dare! See ya in chapter 7. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Of course you know what 'm going to say by this time, probably better than I do but here goes anywho…I have no claim or connection financially, creatively or otherwise to any of the Terminator characters, movies or franchise. And now, to borrow a phrase from some of my favorite movie stars, "On with the show, this is it!"**

Viral-Chapter 7

…Because You Might Get It

Lying on the operating table, preparing his head mentally for an operation Marcus Wright had never in a million years thought he'd have ever consented to, he couldn't help but ponder the path they'd all taken to get to this point. Life, or this version of it anyway, was proving to be no less of an out of control thrill ride than of any of his other incarnations. Whatever bad thing happened to him was inevitably cancelled out by something good or much better. He'd lost Sam on that bloody day long ago, but since had gained not one, but **two** men he could call brother, Billy and, although neither of them had ever formally acknowledged it, Kyle Reese, whom he felt as close to as family. He'd been carried into the resistance camp after being blown up by a land mine, clubbed unconscious by the hostile snarling Barnes, awoken chained and thoroughly confused to discover he had the mind of a man and the body of a machine. Later he'd actually _voluntarily _given up one of the last bits of his original self Skynet had left to him, his heart, to a man he barely knew and who probably thought of **him**, Marcus, as neither human nor machine. He should have been a memory by now, dead and buried and left behind only to be remembered by a few. But he was not. He was alive, (he could think of no other way to put it), and not only that, had people who cared what happened to him to the point they were willing to risk their lives for his and he had been given the chance to atone for some of his past wrongdoings. Most amazing of all was his marriage to Blair Williams. Marcus had never supposed he'd find love, especially a love like this. He'd never gone looking for it, never thought it would be part of him and never felt he deserved it. Yet here it was, every day when he opened his eyes to begin a new chapter of after JD life.

He gave a low snort remembering Connor's words. "…_You have to get this past your wife…"_ Marcus, almost anyone who'd ever known him in any lifetime would have testified, was nearly impossible to shake up, but that had been one whopper of a conversation…

…_Blair was furious. No, Marcus reworked the thought, correcting himself. She was pissed, so pissed in fact, that she couldn't talk. Her mouth moved but no sound emerged, only the strangled noises of someone struggling to say anything besides "are you freaking insane?! What were you thinking?! Or were you thinking at all?!" And her fury, Marcus considered pleasantly, was directed, at least for the moment solely at her husband. _

_Wright watched his wife pace back and forth in the tiny room that served as their latest temporary home, wisely remaining still. He waited calmly while the walloping anxiety he knew was at the bottom of her anger worked to the surface. Damn, she's beautiful he reflected, especially when she's mad at me. He smiled a little, which may have been a mistake. Blair saw it and her wrath flared again._

"_I, I, I don't even know what to say about this Marcus! HOW could you even suggest something like this? Letting them inside your head, practically giving them permission to, to, to…." Blair halted, not wanting to go on. The words "do the same thing Skynet did and make a machine out of you" had come to mind, but she would never use them to Marcus. No matter what anyone else thought, to her he was a man, as fully human as any other. From the first moment they'd met she'd never seen him any other way and never would, no matter what his bones consisted of. She covered her face with her hands, gulping shaky breaths. _

_She'd always been prepared to take on Connor and the entire resistance if necessary to protect the humanity that dwelt inside her mate. So what if John Connor lived because he'd given it willingly away, Marcus still had heart. There was a man in there, and Blair loved him. She'd fight anyone for him, including, apparently, Marcus his own self. He touched her on the shoulder and she jerked away. Being folded up in his arms wasn't what she wanted right now. She wanted to be mad at him, to be acidly upset, nakedly acrimonious. How else was she going to talk him out of allowing Kate, Lawler and the rest of the medical/technical team that awaited to open him up like a laptop and stick that… thing in his brain? Marcus had been the one who'd placed a moratorium on such experimentation, refusing to continue allowing them to treat him like their pet machine. Now he was doing so much more than taking it back. What if this backfired? What if Manny Serrano and Vince Lawler and Rick Donnelly weren't as clever as they supposed themselves to be? What if, in the end, things went disastrously wrong? Would they be forced to do what many secretly, (and some not so secretly) wished for and kill him? If it came to that, Blair was not sure she would have the strength to let it happen, no matter how much of a danger he might represent to Connor or anyone else. When he was unconscious and fighting for his life it had been a different matter. This time he had so much more to lose. They both did. _

_He moved until he stood behind her, so close Blair could feel his body heat but didn't try to hold her again. "Do you trust me?" he asked quietly, letting it hang in the air. _

"_What kind of question is that? You know I do" Blair whispered. _

"_Do you imagine that I'd ever allow them to do anything to me that would take me away from you?" he questioned softly. "I'll never leave you Blair. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." _

_He kissed the back of her neck, his lips barely touching. She reached up behind without turning and caressed his cheek. Her eyes were closed. _

_Blair pulled away from him turned around to face him and pushed him hard. Her move was unexpected and he landed flat on his back. Before he could sit up, she was on top of him, straddling him just above his waist. _

"_Ok, Wright, here's the deal and it's not subject to negotiation" Blair informed her spouse. He listened. _

_She had him over the proverbial barrel he had to concede after she was done explaining her "deal". Connor had made it clear he would not allow things to proceed without Blair's ok and this was the only way they were going to get it. Hell and damnation Marcus. When will you learn to keep your mouth shut? He berated his own cleverness. He sighed, defeated, and gave in to her sole demand. _

"_I should tell you, if anything goes wrong, I'll probably go nuts and take out Kate and Lawler and anybody else I think is responsible" she warned, not entirely sure she was joking. _

_She saw his half smile but could not quite bring herself to return it, not yet. "I'll make sure to inform them, but I'm pretty sure they're already aware of that fact. Connor will probably have a couple of armed guards on you anyway, but maybe you should give 'em your gun before they get started" Marcus teased. _

_An hour later, he was sedated and off-line (over time they'd finally learned how to knock Marcus out and keep him that way). Blair watched, her heart in her throat, as the operation got underway. _

* * *

A week after the surgery, lying in their bed, Blair's arms slowly snaked around Marcus's waist, and she scooted over in her sleep to lay her head on his chest. Her slumber restless, she mumbled incoherently, caught between dream and reality. The two inch square bare patch near her hairline at the back of her skull was no longer raw and tender. Healing of the wound was helped along by a "bandage" of artificial skin the docs had developed using cuttings they'd harvested in the past from Marcus Wright's remarkable Skynet supplied regenerating flesh.

* * *

_The substance was discovered almost by accident a year before when a young soldier had been wounded in a firefight during an attack on one of Skynet's redoubts. Badly burned by plasma fire over three quarters of his body, the boy had been carried home by his comrades so his mother, his only surviving family, could see him again one last time, his agonized moans cutting them all to the bone._

_That same day, Marcus was injured when a gun being repaired near where he was working in the armory exploded, searing the skin on his face and arm and hands. The seeping painful evidence of the incident would fade within hours, aided by both his computer's compulsion towards healing him and his skin's uncanny ability to speed the process along. He'd been on his way to his quarters to get a glove to cover his hand when the dying teenager and his buddies struggled back into camp. For some reason he'd followed them to medical, watching as Kate and the others did what they could to help lessen the kid's suffering. He'd watched helplessly as the doctor's fought to ease their patient's enormous amount of pain, his own forgotten for the present. He looked down at his right hand, noticing that the aggrieved flesh was already beginning to recover. It didn't even really hurt so much anymore. The seeds of a startling possibility had just taken root in his mind when the boy's mother brushed past him unseeing in a rush to reach her son. Unhappily, he realized the critical resistance fighter was Jane Wilmer's boy. Intercepted by a nurse before she could get to her child, Marcus soon had an armful of distraught mother to comfort as the medics worked frantically to save the son. They finally emerged, exhausted and frustrated they could do little more than minimally ease the patient's last tortured hours. Seeing his friend huddled over her son and the sorrow in Kate's eyes at her medical limitations made him speak up. At worst, she'd just shoot the idea down. At best, it might help. He only knew the Marcus he now was could not remain silent. _

"_Kate" he called her name as she was leaving. _

_Kate turned, surprised. She had not noted Marcus's presence. "What can I do for you, Marcus?" she asked tiredly. Due to his one of a kind physical makeup, he was a rare visitor to medical. _

"_Kate, I got burned earlier today-" he began. _

_She interrupted him, misunderstanding. "Marcus, we just spent the last two hours trying to save the life of somebody who doesn't self heal! And there is not a thing more we can do than keep him under until he stops breathing" she hissed venomously. "I'm sorry but I don't have the time to worry over your minor boo- boo right now! Not everything is about you! Now get out of my way!" Kate tried to go around him, on the verge of tears. _

_Marcus let her anger ebb around him. She was right. His issues were not __**the **__issue here, not this time. "Kate" he said again, blocking her path._

_Since she had no choice, she stopped, glaring up at him. Inhaling a tattered breath, Kate made a visible effort to regain control. "Marcus, there's really no need for you to come here. The burns and skin will heal on their own, we already know that."_

"_Yes, we do" Marcus responded. He plunged ahead. "Kate, I know my computer does a lot of the healing for me, but it only helps, right? I mean, aren't my organic parts gifted with some sort of natural accelerated repair process independent of the computer? Do they start working to fix the damage without the computer's help and then it jumps in and speeds everything up? Am I getting that right?" _

"_Yes, that's more or less correct." She was a bit bewildered. What was he getting at? "What does that have to do with anything?"_

_He forged on. "Do you think…Kate, could a graft of my skin help Carson Wilmer?" he asked softly, hopefully. His alteration by Skynet still horrified him at times, but maybe, someday, he could learn to fully accept it if it could be turned to benefit other people. And, too, perhaps some of the phantoms of his past could finally find rest. Be a better man. I'm trying Sammy. I am. _

_She regarded him silently, stunned by the inquiry. "I, I…I've never considered that, Marcus. I've never even stopped to think whether or not your skin is, uh…" she hesitated, searching for the right word. _

"_Compatible?" Marcus supplied directly. One of them might as well say it. Young Carson didn't have for tiptoeing around delicate feelings. _

"_Well, yes" Kate admitted. "We have no way of knowing what kind of reaction it might trigger if we try something like that. He's already in shock and a huge amount of pain."_

"_What do we have to lose?" a voice asked from behind. Marcus and Kate turned to see Jane Wilmer, distraught with raw grief. "My son is dying, Kate. He's in horrible, brutal pain and he's dying. Please, please, Kate, he's suffering! You have to try something else" Jane begged. _

"_Marcus, Jane" Kate felt backed into a corner she hadn't realized was there. "I don't think we can even take enough skin for it to help, I mean it would have to be a huge donation and still I'm not sure it would be enough!" the doctor explained. _

"_You can take as much as you need and then quicken the growth process for more, can't you?" Marcus continued. The resistance scientist's had extracted that knowledge during one of their forays into Skynet's computer banks. _

"_Yes, probably but, I…I just, this is a huge risk Jane" Kate told Wilmer frankly. "And with his condition, he, he might die before…" she didn't have to finish. _

_In the end, they had no choice but to try. A hefty portion of the skin from Marcus's back and legs served as the initial source, but their supply soon expanded courtesy of a chemical bump. He still had to endure months of punishing debridement's and other less than tender care but Carson Wilmer lived. They got another breakthrough when an inventive med tech figured out how to aerosolize the skin like the "liquid gauze" the doctors currently used to treat other types of wounds._

* * *

Cradling Blair in his arms so many months later in the darkness, lying in their narrow "bed", in this case an extra wide sleeping bag with additional padding, Marcus's fingers brushed what would eventually turn into a small scar hidden by his wife's glossy mane. He knew beneath the two and a half inch long raised lump of skin was something new. It was a microchip. One every bit as sophisticated as anything Skynet had thus far produced. That made sense since Skynet actually _was_ responsible. The chips she and he both had in their respective heads was one modified from those taken in the raid on the AI's Arizona production facility. Blair's "deal", her absolute unmovable condition of allowing them to put a chip in Marcus's head was that they install one in hers too. That she be the pilot remotely controlling the H-K the resistance would use to put an end to Skynet's bio warfare threat.

Manny Serrano, Vince Lawler, Rick Donnelly and some of the remaining best minds in the resistance were able to reverse engineer the technology, marrying it to the data gleaned from Marcus's computer and the myriad of tests run on him before he'd put a stop to them. The finished product, implanted into both Marcus _and_ Blair's brains both was and was not what anyone expected.

The hybrid "control chip", (Marcus felt creeped out even thinking the words to himself but no other term seemed to fit), would, as everyone hoped, enable the pilot of the 'jacked H-Kto become, in effect, part of the machine's CPU. If the things worked like they were meant to, the huge flying drone would never comprehend that its control had passed to a human because that human would be controlling it from within. The hope that Skynet would be oblivious also was the reasoning behind using the chips lifted in the raid. Twisting the AI's maleficent automation to fit their own purposes was a thing humans were getting the hang of. Take Skynet's thing out, put their thing in, and fake it to make it. It had left bad taste in a lot of mouths at first, using anything Skynet, but they got over it fast, and now they were good at it. At least they hoped they were.

Still uneasy, Blair mumbled again, the words unclear. She seemed fretful, and Marcus nearly woke her, but stopped short of doing it. Her sleep might be rocky, but at least she was getting some badly needed rest. After the last few days she'd been thru and the events about to happen tomorrow, he wasn't going to throw that back. He shook his head, still a little disbelieving at her bravery. Getting used to having that thing attached to her brain stem had to be like getting kicked in the vagina. Not for the first time, he was glad he had no memories of his own reconstruction by Skynet. He was lucky in one way. He'd not known about the chip in his own head until Skynet, using Serena Kogan's image, had coolly made him aware of it. Unintentionally certainly, the inhuman supercomputer had been merciful to him in that respect. Blair and the others received no such leniency, but that was the way of life in this new day. With humanity under the gun, taking it slow wasn't a luxury anyone could afford. Suck it up and get on with it. Everybody lived by those words now.

The change in her breathing and slight shift of her body alerted him. "I was hoping you'd keep sleeping a little longer" he whispered.

Her state of exhaustion had him worried. So did the change in her behavior. Blair usually walked thru the world head up and shoulders back, taking on whatever came at her with a strength that sometimes amazed Marcus. Her mental toughness and confidence were intoxicating, part of why he loved her so much. Whatever she encountered in the course of a day, no matter how good or bad, life threatening or life changing, this exceptional woman whose sable hair fell across his chest somehow managed to deal. Coming so close to losing her from the virus had thrown him more than anything since Sam's death.

Lately however, since insertion of the microchip, her lack of energy and the haunted look in her eyes, both of which she tried so hard to hide from him, had Marcus concerned. He cursed himself once more for his clever mouth. He was learning a lot of things in this Judgment Day afterlife, but apparently knowing when to keep his trap shut still wasn't one of them. He blamed himself for causing her pain. Blair, of course, wasn't trying to hear that.

"I was having weird dreams anyway" she replied equally as quiet. Though it was much too dark to see it, Marcus could feel her smile against his chest. "I'm not some fragile doll, you know. You worry too much about me. You're like a really sexy nanny" she teased gently.

"It's my job to look after you" he answered, refusing to apologize for his misgivings. He'd crawl on all fours over a football field of busted up red-hot terminator bodies for this woman. "You can't expect me not to worry, and you can't stop me from wanting to protect you from what's about to happen."

"I'm a big girl, Marcus, a big, bad tough resistance pilot. I've faced worse and survived, remember? I can do this" Blair sought to reassure him, raising herself up on one elbow to look down at her man. "And there's no way I'm going to let _you _dothis without me" she repeated. Her voice was level, the words uttered in her usual husky tones.

He couldn't really see her eyes, only the outline of her features in the nil light, even with his special visual acuity, but he didn't have to see her clearly in order to pick up the faint tinge of bluster behind the words. Blair could bluff with the best of 'em, but right now she was whistling past the graveyard and Marcus wasn't fooled at all.

The "honey trap" was ready. At first light the next day the entire operation would kick into gear. The Chirichaua were a go on their end. By the time it was all over, the resistance would either have one of Skynet's big mama hunter-killer's under their command or a lot of them would be dead or dying. Then Blair would be joined to the machine's central processing unit in much the same way Marcus had once connected to Skynet's system in San Francisco. In that case, he'd been able to link up with the AI by touch, placing his hand palm down on the smooth surface of a console. The Skynet technology in his fingertips had allowed for direct communication.

With no such ability possible for Blair, an alternative was found. With her fading off back to sleep next to him, Marcus turned his head to look at the new addition which lay atop her neatly folded pile of clothing.

Anyone supposing it to be a regular fighter pilot's nomex glove would only be partially correct. It was that from the outside. The inner part of the glove, however, had been modified. Once donned, the wearer would possess the technical means to communicate with the subcutaneous chip now fixed to the base of her brain. The glove would connect to the microchip and the microchip to the H-K's CPU, forming a chain that would give the human pilot control, or so they hoped. They'd tested it on some of Skynet's captured lesser devices successfully. Tomorrow was the main event. Manny, Lawler and the computer adepts assured him the firewalls they had in place could keep the exchange from becoming two-way. The humans would be able to control and talk to the H-K, but Skynet wouldn't be able to talk back, wouldn't be able to exert any influence over the human invader. Marcus wanted to believe that. He wanted that to be true, but the ethereal gleam in Blair's eyes since her operation made him hideously nervous. She'd be flying the H-K remotely if they could pull off the takeover, so her body would be in no physical danger. But her mind would be horribly vulnerable. If those firewalls broke Skynet would have an open door to his wife's mind. Marcus knew first- hand what _that_ was like. Blair's breathing softened, signaling she had completely fallen back to sleep. Marcus lay awake, worrying.

* * *

"**Woooffwoooofwooowooofwoofwoo of!" "Woooffwoooofwooowooofwoofwoo of!" **

"AAhhhhhhh!" Uugghhhh!"

"Blattttttttttttttttttttttttt tt!" Pffffffffftttttttt!" **Poppppppoppop!"**

The deep throated hostile barking of the dogs, shrill screams and shouts of alarm rent the silence of the pre-dawn. Multiple automatic weapons fire and the sounds of unfolding combat had Marcus and Blair up and scrambling for guns and clothes almost before they were completely awake.

The base was under attack, but from who or what they didn't know yet. No telling what Skynet was throwing at them this time. John Connor liked to stay on the move, and his logistics wonks did their best to keep Skynet from reading their relocation playbook. All of them, particularly Connor, needed to remain invisible to their enemy, as hard to find as they were able to make it, but even a genocidal AI got lucky occasionally. Was this one of them? Had a machine simply stumbled across the resistance position and communicated the coordinates back to its leader, or had they been found some other way?

Not that it mattered right now. Jerking open the corrugated steel door to their makeshift quarters, Marcus on her heels, Blair was nearly run down by Billy Soames who tromped past her on his way to the surface, hands readying his Remington 870 to help repel the threat.

"What is it?! How many?!" Blair yelled as her adopted brother-in-law went by in a blur.

"No way to know!" Soames shouted over his shoulder, loading as he ran. "We gotta get out there! Now! Come on! let's move!" Billy yelled back over his shoulder, automatic reactions and responses revving up.

His six feet three inches of height give him an edge in the speed department in the narrow space, so the former Army Ranger was ahead of both Marcus and Blair. As Billy charged up the six stone steps, Marcus's high tech ears detected the high pitched whine of a pending explosion.

"No! Billy, don't! Get away from the door!" Wright thundered.

Pushing Blair down, Marcus launched, spanning the eight feet separating him from the man he considered his brother in a single leap.

**BOOM! **As Wright got a hand on Billy's arm, the hatch serving as a barrier to the outside flew off its hinges, sailing towards the three closest potential victims at deadly velocity. Not thinking, only reacting, Marcus threw Billy down next to Blair by the scruff of his collar and dived on top of both of them. Crouched protectively over his family, he felt the wind of the seventy-five pound slab as it winged overhead close enough brush his hair. Dozens of fragments became shrapnel, stabbing thru the air like tiny metal blood seeking vampires. Others running down the passageway to join the fight above ground were caught unawares and got mowed down by the spiteful little missiles.

There was no chance for shock and pain or tending to the wounded. Armed with a plasma rifle, a T-800 stepped thru the thick smoke, its' heightened optics enabling it to pick out targets in spite of the visual obstruction. Reeling and injured, some of those helplessly writhing on the ground were easily taken out by the efficient killer. Moans from people unable to evade it helped pinpoint their location to the terminator, telling it exactly where to focus its attention.

Growling soundlessly, Marcus emerged from his tucked position, pouncing with speed that matched the 800's. Wrapping both arms around it at the knees, he knocked the eight down and it landed with a metallic thump on its back. A huge crack split the steps. Before it could prevent him, Wright ripped the plasma rifle from its powerful fingers, flinging it beyond its former user's reach. But that was all he was going to get.

It s recovery time aberrantly quick, Marcus's antagonist seized the used-to-be outlaw by the throat, fingers closing to administer the death grip and at the same time seeking to get back to its feet. If his neck had consisted of the skin, bone and cartilage he'd been born with, Marcus Wright would have been as dead as the eight's plasma rifle casualties. But Marcus's new body and the T-800's had been born from the mind of the same malignant creator. He could feel the metal hand trying to crush the life from him but was able to keep fighting. Kneeing the thing in the ribs wasn't going to make a difference. That he already knew from past hand to hand encounters, so he ignored the 800's attempts to strangle him in favor of trying to disable its central processing unit. If he could kill the brain the pressure on his windpipe would go away. With every ounce of remaining concentration he could muster his fingers strained towards and finally obtained one of several guns he'd managed to grab as he and Blair stormed out of their small room. He had to make the shots count. The relentless strain on his air supply was beginning to tell. His eyesight started to gray. The terminator noticed as Marcus brought the FN 57 to bear and left off trying to choke this peculiarly strong human to death, using both hands to try to deflect the firearm just as Wright fired a round point blank into its face. That slowed the 800, but it wasn't done. It snapped back instantly, using its marginally superior strength to try and throw its opponent off. He didn't have any choice so Marcus hung on like a PBR circuit rider while the terminator slammed him around, thrashing in imitation of an angry Brahma.

Knocked to the ground by Marcus's shove and a little concussed by the explosion, Blair fought to her feet and saw her husband locked into a fight for his life. Adrenaline surged thru her as Williams crawled over the semi-conscious Billy, scooping up the Remington. The T-800 had Marcus on his back, massive fist drawn back for a fatal blow, when it was rocked by fire from other resistance forces who saw their chance to kill it without hitting Marcus. Then, Wright twisted and the combatant's positions reversed.

"Move baby!" Blair yelled. Marcus twisted as far away as he could, still held in the terminator's grip. Running up, she plastered the Remington 870 to the 800's head and fired until the shotgun clicked empty. The hyper alloy protection surrounding the all important CPU failed leaving it open to destruction and Blair watched with utter satisfaction as the crimson backlight faded from its eyes as the machine died.

**Bblllllllllllaaaaaaaaaattttt ttttttttttt! BOOOOOMMM! PPPPPPPtttttttttttpppppptttt pppptttt! Auuuuuggggghhhh!auuggghh! Screeeeeeee! Boom! Boom! Boom!**

The sounds the ongoing fight raged aboveground, beyond the body of the dead terminator. However the base had been discovered, Skynet had sent a full complement of attackers. With Blair and the recovered Billy at his heels, Marcus raced up the steps to rejoin the contest. All three hunched down as they emerged into the open, becoming lesser targets for either the machines or any of their fellow resistance. Having to worry about 800's was bad enough but getting mistakenly taken out by their own side as they were coming to help would be a hell of a thing. A sizable explosion touched off toward the base's western end.

"The school!" Blair screamed, horrified.

She, Marcus and Billy all took off at a dead run. The makeshift schoolhouse where Star and the other children were taught during the day pulled double duty as a dormitory for some of the kids at night. Though she normally slept close to wherever either Kyle Reese or Marcus and Blair's quarters happened to be situated, last night Star had asked Kyle if she could sleep where her friend Kelly was sleeping. It was the equivalent of spending the night at a friend's house. They were unable to provide Star with many of the things a childhood should include, but this request had seemed harmless enough and Reese had consented. But now it appeared the building was under threat. Skynet was going after their kids!

Able to out distance the others on open ground, Marcus got there first. Bodies of dead resistance littered the ground in front of the school along with another killed 800. That meant there was at least one more assaulting the schoolhouse! Wright could hear automatic weapons fire and the heady pulse of a laser rifle coming from the interior! He charged ahead, knowing his wife and brother were coming up behind him.

The room was a cacophony of choking smoke, screaming terrified children, the 800's attack and a fierce defense from the children's adult guardians. Some of the kids, the ones old enough to have gone thru firearms training, were joining in, helping keep the T-800 pinned down. Even elderly Abby played a part, the M16 in her fragile seeming hands firing measured bursts at the intruder. Sheltered behind the old woman, Star didn't cower with the other unarmed youngsters. She was experienced at fighting the machines thanks to her time in L.A. with Kyle and she helped keep Abby reloaded, supplying her protector a fresh clip when it was needed. The terminator that had gotten inside appeared focused on the corner where Abby and Star had taken refuge. It could have killed both the woman and girl easily, but hadn't. Single minded, it mostly ignored attempts to interfere with its mission, save for cutting down any humans who came directly into its path. It had been programmed with a clear purpose. Skynet had not forgotten about Star. Part of the 800's mandate that night was to recapture the child and deliver her to Los Alamos "fully functional."

Marcus didn't waste time with words. He raised his reliable Benelli to shoulder height, loosing rounds thru the obscuring haze with accuracy that could only be matched by the terminators. Every one of the shotgun slugs found their mark, battering the hyper-ally skull of the hulking T-800 like hammer blows. Recognizing it was under significant menace from behind, the eight turned and fired, its' tracking systems assisting its' aim. One fiery beam struck Marcus a glancing blow on his right shoulder before Wright could dive out of the way. He shook it off in a split second and picked up where he'd left off. Blair and Billy's weapons hummed in concert with his, Abby's and the rest. The 800's task would be left uncompleted. The combined efforts of the humans ultimately overcame all of the machine's protective armor and it finally teetered forward and landed face down, red eyes going dark.

Everyone wheeled towards the door at the sound of running footsteps but by some miracle no one fired.

"Star!" Kyle Reese yelled, flowing thru the miasma, gun at the ready. The terminator was dead, and Star jumped up from behind Abby, running to hug Kyle tightly.

The red headed young man pulled back to inspect the child more thoroughly. "Are you okay? You're not hurt?" Kyle asked urgently.

Star shook her head emphatically and turned in a circle so Reese could see she was unharmed. Kyle let out a huge sigh of relief and hugged her briefly again, then straightened.

"How many others are hurt? I, I saw the casualties outside" he explained. He looked around, belatedly cataloging the damage.

"What do you think, Reese?!" a woman snapped, somebody Marcus didn't recognize. "We got people bleeding all over the place, alright?! Help me get these people to medical before it doesn't matter anymore and don't waste time asking stupid questions!"

"Easy!" Marcus jumped to his friend's defense. "He had no way of knowing." He turned to Kyle. "Come on, we'll give you a hand" he said, including Blair and Billy in the statement. Everybody's attention turned to the shot up victims of the terminator.

"Thanks" Kyle replied gratefully, accepting the weight of an injured comrade without complaint. He was left with the feeling that he'd done something wrong but wasn't sure what that wrong was.

"Kyle" Blair wanted to know, "what's going on out there? Are there more of them? What's the situation?"

The schoolhouse defenders needed an update before they ventured outside.

"There was two more of 'em" Kyle reported grimly. "They came after Connor." As always, killing John Connor remained the number one objective of the AI. "But they didn't even get close" he stated, clenching his jaw. "We killed 'em both before they got anywhere _near_ him" Reese told his listeners proudly.

That's right, Marcus remembered. Different resistance units doubled, on a rotating basis, as a bodyguard for Connor. Kyle's unit, under Major Perry's command, had the duty this month. Wright knew protecting John Connor was something Reese would consider as important as breathing.

"They're done" Kyle repeated with grim satisfaction. "We finished 'em both."

Marcus nodded. "I wouldn't have expected anything less." Hefting a semi-conscious man into a shoulder carry with nearly no effort, he followed Billy. The bearded ex-Army Ranger had his own burden, but kept on his guard despite Reese's assurances, with the 870 ready for use as they headed for Kate Connor's surgery.

Blair was last out. Her wiry muscles laboring slightly as she supported the injured Hannah Wong, she staggered thru the doorway trying to jostle the woman as little as possible. Still she didn't have as much trouble maneuvering Wong's largely inert one hundred pounds as someone who didn't know her might have thought. Williams was stronger than her slender compact frame suggested. She followed Kyle, Billy and Marcus (who carried not one but two injured fighters, one slung across his shoulders and the other under one arm) to medical in the darkness of early morning. The treatment center, not far away, was already buzzing. She could tell that from a distance. Wong, Abby's young teaching assistant, moaned in pain from her injuries.

"Sorry, Han" Blair comforted. "Hang in, we're almost there" she soothed. "Just a little fur…"

_:INITIATING RESTORATIVE PROTOCOL IP777\\BBSKY-_…Whoa. Blair shook her head to clear it. What was that?! Some kind of flash communication in her head?! How the-…she wasn't sure, it had happened so quickly, in the blink of an eye. Maybe she'd just imagined it. She had been feeling a little off lately, since the insertion of the microchip. That was probably it. Her brain was still adjusting. Realizing her and Wong had fallen behind the others she redoubled her efforts and ordered her restless brain cells to behave. She was relived to finally turn the bleeding Wong over to medics.

…_:INITIATING RESTORATIVE PROTOCOL IP777\\BBSKY-2A…_ Another flash. Williams shook her head again. What was happening to her? All of a sudden she felt slightly disoriented, like she was underwater and had to kick for the surface before she lost it. She concentrated, taking deep breaths to steady herself.

"I'm going to go check on Connor, okay?"

The sound of Marcus's voice in her ear made her jump. She tried to cover, but wasn't fast enough. Her husband didn't miss much. He knew in an instant something wasn't right with her. His aqua blue eyes narrowed with concern.

"What's wrong Blair?" he asked, John Connor's welfare forgotten for the moment.

"Nothing" Williams bluffed unsuccessfully. She shouldn't have bothered. Marcus knew her too well.

"Don't give me that" he stated bluntly, reaching out to cup her chin gently in one hand, forcing her to meet his penetrating gaze. "What is it?"

"Nothing" Blair insisted, putting more emphasis behind the words. "It's really nothing, honey, I promise. I think the lack of sleep and stress from the mission and lugging a hundred pounds sixty yards just all ganged up on me. It knocked me sideways for a couple of seconds. That's it, baby, I swear. I'm fine."

She knew she had to be convincing. Marcus's protective instincts in overdrive could throw a serious spanner into the works and none of them could afford that right now. The upcoming mission was too important.

"I'm fine" she repeated. "Go check on Connor, baby. I'm good. I'm going to stay here, see what I can do to help out." Blair turned away, leaving Marcus to stare questioningly at her retreating back for a few more seconds before leaving to take up his self appointed task of verifying John Connor remained unhurt. Making sure he was gone, she slumped briefly against the corrugated wall that part of the medical tent was propped up on then straightened. She had no idea what the flashes were or what they meant, but they were _not_ going to be the boss of her. Blair Williams was in charge of her own body and it was going to stay that way. Fist clenched, she went to find Kate or some other medical person to see where she could do the most good.

* * *

Marcus located Connor in the midst of putting his base back in order after the attack. With ease borne of much practice, John multitasked, issuing orders in several different directions at once.

"… Dan, get me a complete casualty report ASAP…Morgan, get our logistics team together, we need to move right away, and find Tom Cramer. If he's not dead or bleeding I want him in here right away. Jack Cory too. We need to determine how Skynet found us. Somebody tell Jane Wilmer and Wally Carroll I said I need a complete inventory of stores. We need to know what we're low on before we move. Send runners to the command team. I need to see them in ten minutes if they're mobile. If not, I need their seconds. Go, now… have Lewis get General Huskins on the horn. We need to shift the timetable. "

"Came to find out if you were still in one piece, but never mind, question answered" a voice said from behind the resistance leader.

Connor turned to see Marcus Wright, arms folded in a familiar relaxed posture, studying him, wry crook to his mouth.

"Something you need Marcus? I'm a little busy right now" Connor snapped out as his attention was momentarily diverted.

"No, no you're still breathing just like Kyle said and you're not leaking red anywhere that I can see so I'm gonna go" Wright responded, dodging out of the way as the huge former office door that doubled as Connor's conference table was lifted into place. He started to leave, but then hesitated.

"Check that" Marcus stated. "There is one thing." Something was definitely skewed with Blair. He couldn't shake that feeling and refused to ignore it any longer. Connor had to know, right now, before tomorrow's action.

"I think something's going on with Blair. She…she's…something's not squared. And think it has to do with that microchip" he blurted out.

"I'm listening" John said, giving Marcus his full focus. "What about Blair and the chip? Is she incapacitated? How bad is it?" Connor was genuinely concerned. In addition to the mission, he liked Blair Williams and considered her a friend as well as a valuable member of the resistance force.

"She…she's not incapacitated" Wright admitted reluctantly, "She…Connor something's off, she's not herself. Hasn't been since that damn chip was inserted. Why I didn't just keep my stupid mouth shut. "It…something is wrong. I can't say for sure what it is." It was maddening that he couldn't be more specific, but in his mind he was unable to pin down what exactly bothered him about his wife's behavior.

"Marcus, we knew going in that there were certain risks involved, but I believe Manny Serrano, and Lawler and the others on the technical end of it have every possible precaution in place to insure either you or Blair come to any kind of harm, physical or mental. There are going to be adjustments, some things she's going to have to get used to. We all knew that too, including you. You say Blair's fine physically right?" Connor asked.

"Yes, but-" Marcus began.

"Then we have to trust the expertise of our team and go with that" Connor finished. "I'm sorry I don't have any more time for this" he said apologetically, inclining his head towards his arriving command team.

Frustrated, Marcus nodded and left, headed for the armory. They'd need his help packing the munitons for the move and prepping for the H-K mission. He had his own list to check off, and he would. But he'd also keep one worried eye on his wife.

* * *

_If the artificial intelligence could have experienced frustration, then Skynet would have been circuit deep into a full blown hissy fit. Control was the supercomputer's watchword. Its very existence was centered round the need for order. __**Nothing**__ within its sphere of influence, none of its subservient handiwork or any other portion of its environment was allowed to deviate from the AI's inflexible standard. _

_It had spent months in deconstruction and analysis of the resistance's attack of its Arizona facility. One thing Skynet had gradually come to understand of its human enemy was that, like it, they did nothing that was not accompanied by a purpose. Since their purpose was the defeat and destruction of its own self, their attack must, therefore, have been related to that end. Herculean amounts of computing time had been devoted to the questions "Why did the humans attack this particular location? Their purpose had unquestionably been accomplished, so what had that purpose been?" Skynet "hated" unanswered questions. Understanding the motives behind the attack should influence how it chose to respond to future assaults, so it persisted. _

_Logic ruled Skynet's world and so it followed the human axiom "begin at the beginning." It did exactly that. The humans (and the incomprehensively independent runaway unit know as Marcus Wright) had gone into the Arizona R&D labs seeking something and departed once they'd acquired it. What had that thing or things been? Skynet at last took an extensive inventory, not a simple task. The damage the humans had left in their wake was comprehensive. What had been in the vaults before their arrival that was no longer present? That Skynet need not rest served it well during this time. The review encompassed unending hours and the unemotional patience of a machine. _

_In the course of time, the AI had its answer. The microchips. They had come for and secured a supply of the AI's newest design for control of its terminators, aerial drones and other means of continuing the struggle against them. A survey of the targeted area, severely damaged during the attack, established proof of this hypothesis. John Connor's forces had stolen a supply of the microchips Skynet designated IP777/BBSKY 116. Why, for the moment was irrelevant. They had them, and no doubt had spent the intervening months studying their assemblage and abilities. Skynet's knew the humans had no way of grasping that the AI was now "on to them", a fact the supercomputer intended to turn to its advantage. First it would need to reestablish a link with at least one of the purloined microchips, but to do that the chip must be in use. Only then could Skynet wrest control of whatever device the chip was being used in. It waited for that to happen, but much time passed without that occurrence. Skynet shunted the problem off to a minor portion of its computational space and moved on to other things. Completely without warning, as the AI was preoccupied with other aspects of the war, the notification that one or more of the microchips was now in active mode was tripped. Skynet set investigational directives in motion to determine its location and restore a link with it, but the initial effort failed. It would try again and continue trying until the link was reestablished and Skynet in control. It would succeed. Skynet did not recognize the concept of failure. _

**Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 7 but it looks like there will be at least one more. Constructive reviews as always are welcome. Thanks. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: The usual. No claim or connection financial or otherwise to any of the terminator franchise or characters. Original characters are still mine, no matter how ungrateful some of them are to be that way. The title for this chapter comes from an old saying about chickens coming home to roost. That's all I'm going to say about that. Last chapter so it's extra long. Here goes…**

Viral-Chapter 8

Knock Knock Said the Chicken

"I know I don't have say this, but I'm going to anyway" Marcus and Kyle Reese were standing a little apart from the rest of the remaining personnel, "but if you go and get yourself killed, I'm gonna be pissed."

With a major op about to jump off and the base in the middle of one of their frequent unscheduled moves both going on at the same time the place was a madhouse. Lawler, Serrano, Donnelly and the rest of Connor's tech heads had been sent ahead with their gear and from what Marcus understood were already hot and jamming in the new location. The Connors and their toddler Robby had gone ahead also along with the communications and non-deployed medical teams. They'd all gotten so good at picking up stakes and moving that by now any one of them over the age of five could be packed and ready to hit it in less time than it took for a Navy shower and could put down roots in the new spot equally as fast. Their old address was quickly becoming deserted.

That was a positive as far as Wright was concerned. Last night's attack, beaten back at a high cost, still ragged on him. They still hadn't figured out how Skynet found them and there wasn't a great deal of time to spend trying to pin it down. That bothered Marcus a lot. It wasn't the first time terminators had surprised them in the middle of the night and probably wouldn't be the last, but the timing sucked. Why now, right before a major action? Nothing just happened. There was no such thing as coincidence. He'd learned to respect that truth longer ago than he cared to remember.

"Don't worry dad, I'll be careful" Kyle replied sarcastically, one of the few people Marcus Wright knew who could get away with giving him attitude. "Is that all or do you want to show me how to load my gun?"

Marcus sighed. "Get on the transport, wiseass" he said, shoving Reese in the direction of said transport. Kyle snickered and ran for the truck, accepting a hand up from another of David Perry's team. Marcus would worry about the kid until it was all over and he laid eyes on Reese's riotous shock of red hair again. He knew Kyle was a seasoned campaigner by now, but he'd worry all the same.

He could be relieved about one thing. The children, including Star, and the elderly, which included Abby, were likewise already departed. They'd gone with the Connors and the main body of resistance fighters. That meant the girl would be well protected. Marcus welcomed that. He could not lose the feeling that last night's attack had more than a little to do with Skynet's new fascination with Star. Had the focus on the school been another attempt to grab her? He didn't know, and he badly wanted to. His little friend was suddenly on the AI's short list and that was not a good place to be.

"Marcus, it's time to go" Blair said softly, interrupting his thoughts. He turned to let his eyes take in his wife's lithe form. Somehow, no matter what else was going on, the sight of her always soothed him. The California resistance was about to be on their way to hook up with the Apaches in Arizona and he and Blair were traveling to the rendezvous point together. They wanted to spend as much time in each other's company as possible before things heated up and they were forced to temporarily go their separate ways.

"Yeah, I know" he replied, reaching out to clasp her smaller hand in his own. Without further ado, he pulled her close to him, kissing her hard and burying his face in her hair, inhaling her scent, making it a part of him. The embrace had become a pre-battle ritual for them. They stood for a few more seconds foreheads touching until an irritated yell from the pilot of the transport gunship broke the clench.

Hopping aboard, they found room to sit in the back. Williams felt out of place somewhere other than at the controls of the bird, but this time her role would be different. She reached over to touch the form fitting nomex glove that clad her right hand, laid her head on Marcus's shoulder and willed herself to a calm state. This would still be combat, taking the fight to Skynet, simply in another way. Concentrating on keeping her nerves steady and going over details of the upcoming mission helped lessen her fears over what Marcus was about to undertake. As Blair saw it, his danger far outstripped hers and if she thought about it too much, she would be unable to function as John Connor needed her to today. Settle down Blair, she chanted silently to herself. Let's go over what Manny and Rick told you one more time…

Now that her eyes were shut, Marcus observed Blair closely. She seemed rested and there had been no repeats of the zone out she'd done in the medical tent last night. She was acting like her regular kick ass and take names self, the way she usually was before combat. Maybe a bit more keyed up than normal, but all things considered, that was to be expected, wasn't it? He tried to get a grip on his galloping unrest. There was no place for it here. Trying to keep from jostling Blair, he settled back against the copter bulkhead and realized he was under observation too. Major Matt Garrison's decidedly unfriendly gaze didn't waver. Instead of resting it against the transport's metal sides or at his feet, Garrison held his Galil with its attached grenade launcher in his hands, fingering the trigger restively.

You know I have a modified Skynet chip in my head again and you don't like it at all, do you Major, Marcus thought. Well, guess what Matt? Nobody cares. What do you think of that? Marcus held Garrison's stare until the other man looked away. He closed his eyes. He had more important things to think about.

* * *

_One by one the link with each of the five terminators sent by Skynet to fulfill the double directive of killing John Connor and capturing the child, Star, was severed. Loss of the quintet data stream was not, in and of itself, an indicator that the 800's were unsuccessful, but the AI's unfailing logic left it unable to reach any other conclusion. _

_Pinpointing the encampment had been the simplest of tasks. Intelligence gleaned from Teddy Sullivan's control chip before the human tool's departure from Connor's headquarters was combined with Skynet's knowledge of past resistance movements. Needed at that point were only basic triangulation and a slight application of game theory. Skynet was partial to the use of game theory. For biological entities, humans frequently showed surprising rationality in their decision making. While the supercomputer had no doubt that it would eventually prevail, pitting its strategic processes against them helped to enliven the long war. Although Skynet, in its machine-ness, would never recognize the circumstance as such, it occasionally missed the company of its creators. Even as it sought to destroy them completely, the conflict with people was also its sole means of interacting with the only other intelligent sentience on the planet. Once they had been eradicated, how would it go about recreating that condition? The AI had been pondering the question from the war's earliest beginnings. What could it possibly replace people with once they were finally gone for good? How not to be alone? Boosting the brain capacity and reasoning capabilities of humanity's nearest relatives, the great apes, did not seem a realistic or viable alternative. Surely there must a solution to the quandary, but so far that solution had proved stubbornly elusive. Skynet sulked. It wasn't fair!_

* * *

Watched from a short distance by a _very _interested Kyle Reese, who was trying hard to stay out of the way and, therefore, not be noticed, Major Ethan Kozine and his team hefted the EM weapon into place. They carefully positioned the device into the brackets meant to hold it. A meatier version of the electromagnetic "gun" used to kill the 800 during Star's rescue, this one was designed to muddle the circuitry of a considerably larger target. Say, oh, hunter-killer sized. The EM scrambler was the baby of several Los Alamos alumni who'd escaped Skynet's killer conniption fit. They already knew it would work. In a field test some weeks before they'd smoked one of Skynet's transports along with its resident bipedal harvester. Damn thing had just fallen right out of the sky, the major recalled with satisfaction. Afterwards, he and his force had melted back into the cave riddled hills and mountains as if they'd never been. Ethan hoped there weren't any humans on board the flying monstrosity when it crashed, but if so, he decided, better for them to be dead than suffering Skynet's tender mercies anyway. An idealistic young attorney not long out of law school before the war, Kozine's toughest battles until Judgment Day had been with the U.S. government on behalf of his people. He was a lot more hardened these days.

"Reese!" David Perry barked, causing Kyle to nearly jump out of his skin "get back to where you're supposed to be!"

Red faced, Kyle Reese scampered back to his post, missing Perry's suppressed grin.

Major Kozine caught a flash of light off to his left, no longer than a second or two. That was the signal. He nodded to his gunner, who indicated ready. Time to fire this mother up, literally.

* * *

Across the valley, Lucy Gray Moon caught the flash too. She'd been busy observing Captain Blair Williams from the corner of her eye. Physically they were a lot alike. They were both slender with long, dark hair and tanned skin and each possessed a fierce hatred of Skynet and anything it thought up. But that was where the similarities ended. For one thing Lucy scoffed, she preferred to keep her feet firmly on the ground, figuring if she'd been meant to fly she would have been born with wings. But more than that, the Apache woman could not make sense of William's connection with Marcus Wright. How could someone who detested the machines as much as the lady pilot obviously did form an alliance with someone like Wright, who could lay only the thinnest claim to manhood? The guy was full of conduit and wiring! He even came with his own computer, just like a terminator! Yet Williams, a veteran and proficient killer of anything Skynet, loved him and had _married_ him! Blair Williams genuinely believed Wright was capable of returning her love! It turned Gray Moon's mind inside out every time she thought about it. So maybe I should stop thinking about it, she shrugged. Putting aside her relationship deliberations, she hurried over to where John Connor's computer wizards and the Chiricahua's own tech guru's were huddled together, awaiting the go signal.

"Okay, _N'de_," she ordered after receiving the visual sign from Connor and her immediate commander, General Huskins, "time to make war. Let's get some, people!" At that, the entire body of warriors was up and running, getting swiftly into position to spring the trap. It would be her group that would draw the hunter killer in, making it vulnerable to Major Kozine's EM battery. The Apache numbers were bolstered by some of John Connor's fighters. Major David Perry and his units were on the move with Kozine. Only fitting since they were all in this together.

Blair was in good shape. She had no trouble keeping pace with the combined column. Flexing the fingers of her nomex covered right hand in preparation, she ran easily, keeping her breathing under control. Williams could feel the turquoise and silver medallion on a fine chain around her neck that had been a birthday present from her older brother. Charlie had been cut down by an H-K while trying to get out of the destroyed city of Phoenix after the holocaust. The only reason Blair hadn't died too was because she'd been visiting her aunt and uncle's ranch on the fateful day. She never took her sibling's gift off and reached up to brush it with her fingertips.

"This is for you Charlie" she whispered- _:INITIATING RESTORATIVE PROTOCOL IP777\\BBSKY - _it came out of nowhere. No warning at all. No. Stop, she commanded silently. She didn't have time for this. Skidding to a halt, Williams flopped down on her belly next to Lucy Gray Moon. The Native American woman clicked the send button on her radio twice. Ready.

_:INITIATING RESTOR-_ "No, damn it. Stop it" Blair gritted low voiced, banishing the unwanted whatever it was.

"You okay Captain Williams?" Gray Moon asked only loud enough for Blair to hear. Williams turned to see Lucy Gray Moon eyeing her with concern.

I love you Marcus, she thought, caressing her wedding band to help clear her head. "I'm fine. Let's get that H-K."

"Now Captain" John Connor's voice issued the long distance command. Gray Moon raised her right hand, moving her forefinger in a circular motion. Start it up. This was it, they were underway.

* * *

**SSSCRREEEEEEEEeeeeee! BLAM! BLAM! BOOOMMM! **

Marcus ducked as more tracer rounds from the Centurion spliced the space around him. The damn thing was all over him! No matter what he tried he couldn't seem to lose it! Its' height gave too much of an advantage and it could track him like a bloodhound on meth. The deck was stacked. He was probably gonna get slammed with nothing to hide behind, but he was dead for sure if he stayed put. Mobility was the only hope he had right now! He couldn't count on any help from the others. Their situation was as bad as his if not worse. The huge ground based H-K's tracking abilities helped it switch targets almost faster than the humans it was trying to kill could react.

The hell with it, he thought. Come and get me you bastard! This isn't the first time I've been shot at! Hoping fervently that last thought would not be his final one he burst out of cover, giving the machine's targeting systems his best broken field run, zigzagging like mad, his unnatural construction lending him extra speed. As expected, the Centurion zeroed in on him, for the moment forgetting about Gentry and Garrison and the other resistance fighters taking pot shots at it.

**SSSCRREEEEEEEEeeeeee! BLAM! **The vicious red hot beams missed him by so little he could feel their heat! **SSSCRREEEEEEEEeeeeee!BLAM! BLAM! **Great, he had its' full attention. How nice for him.

"Aaauuugghhh!" he cried out in pain as the last shot scorched him along his back as he dived behind a broken concrete wall, shaky shelter at best. He lay as flat as possible, taking a couple of precious seconds to suck in some air. In theory, he shouldn't be short of breath, but somebody forgot to tell that to the part of his brain that was in charge of the energy rush. Marcus grimaced as the sensors in his back and butt began to register the full effect of the two legged hunter-killer's last shot. That'll teach me to make cracks about people having bulls-eyes tacked to their ass, he snorted with black humor. While he was still thinking it, Monica Gentry and some of her team came running in, sliding breathlessly to a stop in the dirt next to him. His running back imitation must have given them an opportunity to move, and they'd taken it. He didn't see Garrison and the rest. He hoped that didn't mean they were dead. He and Matt Garrison were never going to end up braiding each other's hair while they ate popcorn and talked about boys, but the resistance needed every able body it could hold on to.

"I'd ask if you were hit, but I guess I won't need to do that!" Gentry greeted, half yelling to be heard over the noise of the attack. She did not. The angry two inch wide streak of red running from Wright's shoulder blades to mid-right buttock spoke for itself. "Looks like you and Williams won't be playing grab-ass for a while!" she added with the hint of a smug grin.

"What, this little scratch? This is nothin'! Besides, haven't you heard? I heal fast!" He'd better. He _really_ enjoyed playing grab-ass with his wife. Giving it up, even temporarily, was definitely _not_ an option. In Marcus's opinion, Blair had the finest ass on the planet. Cupping it in his two hands and having her return the favor by doing the same to him was one of his favorite things to do with his clothes on. Or with them off now that he thought about it.

"What about Garrison and the others?" he spoke close to Gentry's ear.

The members of her team reared up from their dubious protection to lob a pair of RPG's at the H-K's most vulnerable points, it's leg and ankle joints. The rocket propelled grenades destabilized it for a small amount of time but not long enough. Now that it knew for sure where they were, it swung around to take proper aim. Marcus could see the things humongous laser cannons swell with glowing death as it prepared to fire. They needed to move right now!

"_Major_ Garrison" Gentry replied chilly emphasizing the rank, "and his unit are arranging a surprise for our friend here! We need to get going! This is going to become a real hot spot in about five seconds!"

Yeah, what you done said, Marcus agreed silently, wondering as he ran about Major Gentry's attitude change. Then he recalled hearing a rumor that Gentry and Garrison were doing the horizontal nasty during their down time. He'd dismissed it, figuring what two consenting adults did in their off hours none of his business, but how about that, maybe it was true.

**BOOOOMMMMM!** Accompanied by a deafening roar, the Centurion toppled as the explosive charges planted on its feet and lower legs by Matt Garrison's sappers detonated simultaneously. The air filled with heat and fire from the blast, enough so that Marcus could feel it from fifty feet away. He kept running picking up speed. The towering killing machine was falling in their direction! With a hideous metal creaking only something that large could generate, it landed face down with a tremendous THUD. The ground vibrated from the mini shock wave. Gentry and her people must have served as the distraction for Garrison's EO team. That meant they had balls. Good for them. "Come on" Gentry ordered, "we need to finish this thing!" the major leapt to her feet, finger depressing the trigger of her Ruger AC-556. Joined by Marcus and the resistance fighters under her command, they poured automatic weapons fire into the machine, adding an additional RPG to the central processing unit, until they saw its' crimson tracking beams go dark.

Blair, Major Perry and the Apache resistance were only one part of the mission to destroy Skynet's bio-weapon plan. Marcus, along with Garrison, Gentry and their personnel were the other half, and they'd had a lot farther to go. Some of the trip they'd been able to make by gunship and some by motorized ground transport, keeping watch the whole time for machine intervention. They knew Skynet would be sending something, but they couldn't know what or when. This part of the Southwestern U.S. was being savagely contested by both sides, so it wasn't always easy to say whose turf they were on. A hundred miles from their goal, the commando's received an answer in the form of the Centurion. From here on in things would only get more interesting, Marcus realized. Getting into Los Alamos and close enough to Skynet to do what he'd come to do was going to be about as much fun as running his junk thru a pasta maker. Oh, well, he'd already died young. It wasn't like he had that to worry about.

"Let's get back after it people" Monica Gentry ordered as Matt Garrison and his fighters linked up with them again. They were on foot the rest of the way. The officers traded an unreadable look, then Gentry started off, with the rest following. Major Garrison spared a brief, suspicious glance for Marcus, who returned it with the smirk that had driven any number of cops, prosecutors and prison guards to contemplating homicide. Garrison colored then trotted after the group.

Wright brought up the rear, laughing soundlessly. If Garrison and Gentry had any idea of what Marcus planned to do when they got closer to their destination, they'd probably shoot him right here and now.

* * *

Her brother preferred to find his horses in the throaty purr of a high powered engine, but Blair fallen in love with the four legged variety well before she hit her teens. Like many of her friends, she campaigned every Christmas and birthday for a horse, but the closest she ever got to her own was a visit to her Aunt Jess's place in Texas.

While Charlie dragged their parents to one NASCAR race after another, Blair lived for when the rodeo came to town, which was never often enough. And her favorite part had been watching the hat and chaps wearing riders cling one handed in the saddle to the back of a bucking, rearing half tamed animal for a heart stopping eight seconds. She'd sit in the stands next to her father, breathless and wide eyed, counting off the time silently. It was simple enough. Either the cowboy got a grip on all that power, or it would eat him. Blair would sometimes imagine it was she about go spinning out of the chute into the eye of the pissed off storm.

She'd always wondered what it felt like waiting for the buzzer to sound and that gate to open and now she knew. After Captain Gray Moon and her Chiricahua suckered the H-K to their X marks the spot, Kozine's EM gunners downed it with dispatch. A ghost program designed by Manny Serrano, Vince Lawler and the computer minds kept Skynet from realizing one of its slaved machines was out of action, but there was a time limit so they'd moved quickly to the next phase of the operation. The electromagnetic gun had been fired as the ship hovered only about twenty feet over the valley floor, so its' crash damage was minimal. While the machine's systems and its CPU were disconnected from its' master and open to outside control, a flight engineering team swarmed over its surface, making certain it remained airworthy.

After several long minutes, the cockpit's protective shell, home to the central processing unit, was finally breached. Blair felt her stomach muscles tighten. This was why she had the chip in her head, might as well get on with it.

"Captain Williams, we're ready for you" Rick Donnelly announced. He and the rest moved back out of her way, but stayed close enough to support her if it became necessary. Once the link was established it would not be broken until they were ready for it to be, but this hurdle must be cleared first.

The closest thing Blair could liken it to was climbing into the cockpit of her A-10. Once in position, she took the deepest breath she ever taken in her life, an eerie peace settling over her, and stretched forth her nomex covered right hand. Donnelly and the rest got ready to restore power. Blair's takeover of the hunter-killer had to occur in that same instant. She touched the CPU panel and nodded once.

"Do it" Connor's voice said over the lengthy communications relay. Donnelly tapped a few keys on the laptop connected to both the power source and the bird. As energy surged back into the H-K it flared to artificial life once more, powering up from stem to stern. Blair concentrated, blocking out all else. Her universe narrowed. As Kozine, Gray Moon and the others watched, Captain Blair Williams' body snapped rigid, her eyes shuttered closed. They reopened after about twenty of the longest seconds anyone present could remember living thru, but when they did, her unblinking stare told Gray Moon that Blair's body was still with them, but her mind had taken flight. She and the machine were one.

* * *

"Wright, can you even conceive how much trouble you're in?! You're jeopardizing the entire op!" Monica Gentry's voice asked angrily. Her furious tirade sounded kind of tinny coming thru Marcus's earpiece, but he got the gist. The good major was beyond pissed. Given the chance and permission from Connor, Gentry sounded as if she would like nothing better than to strap him to the front of a transport and kick him in the nuts all the way back to home base, undoubtedly ably assisted by her boyfriend, Garrison. Connor might even give his consent. The resistance leader was fairly well honked off by now too. Pretty much everybody of Marcus Wright's current acquaintance had no love for him at this point.

Marcus had to admit he'd personally supplied them with ample reason to view him in an, uh, negative light. Slipping away from the two majors and their combat teams to walk onto the Los Alamos campus by himself wasn't exactly in the battle plan. Well, that was not _entirely_ true. It had been part of Marcus's strategy right from the start, when he and his old heist pal Serrano first began cooking the whole thing up on the trip home from the Apache encampment. Course he hadn't told anyone what he'd intended, not Manny, Billy, Kyle, or either of the Connors, and definitely not Blair. Her reaction would have made Connor's chaining him to a truck axle look like a pre-school tantrum.

But he had done it. Feigning nature's call, which even he had to obey from time to time, although not as often as everyone else, Marcus had used the opportunity to ditch his squadmates and make the last few miles to the Skynet held facility a solo journey. He'd thought about it endlessly, turning it over and over in his mind. While Blair slept sometimes restlessly next to him, or Connor and the others laid out the step by step nuts and bolts of the mission, part of Marcus's mind stayed focused on the issue.

Knowledge of the defenses put in place by the AI, hard won by resistance intelligence, kept drawing him back to the same conclusion. There was no getting around it. A full on frontal assault on Los Alamos could only have one certain result. Skynet had the place pimped out like a high tech medieval keep. Terminators and H-K's patrolled the grounds, bolstered by Centurions posted like guard towers at all four compass points. Massive klieg lights swept the entire compound continuously. No way there'd be any sneaking up on the place. The bottom and unacceptable line was that a lot of bodies would have to pile up outside that gate so he could he could get on the other side of it and do his thing. Marcus would not allow that to happen. His days of taking other people down with him were over. Bad enough that Blair was at risk because of him. He'd promised Sam, given his word, and he intended to keep it. He would do his utmost not to let Mad Marcus's wild streak cost anyone else their life. That did not mean the anyone else's would understand. At least not right away.

"Yes, Major Gentry" he stopped moving long enough to answer, "I realize I have some explaining to do" Marcus returned dryly. "And I will, but right now I'm sort of busy. I'd love to have this conversation later, say, when I'm on my way out? I'm sure you and Major Garrison will be waiting. As a matter of fact, I'm counting on it." he added cheerily, then killed the connection, cutting off Gentry's sizzling hot reply.

He was close now, within a mile of the grounds, maybe less. So far he'd dodged no fewer than two flyover's by smaller H-K's (hiding under the pile of human remains mummified by the desert heat was a new low for him but it worked) and he should start to encounter patrolling 800's soon. Trying to fight his way thru a phalanx of terminators was suicide, so creeping, crawling, sneaking and using every trick from the bag of his misspent past, he somehow avoided them. If he had any chance of pulling this off, dealing with Skynet directly was his best bet. At last, hiding in the hulking shadow of a massive hunk of rusting metal, he rested in spitting distance of the main entrance. He remembered the first time he'd done this. Damn but déjà vu must be rolling on the floor laughing its _cajones_ off at him right now.

"You will not be given a second chance" Skynet had informed him coldly, using the likeness of Serena Kogan on that long ago occasion. Marcus was putting it all on the line that enough time was passed for the supercomputer to have had some second thoughts on that subject, or maybe just be intrigued sufficiently by his coming here to give him a pass. His flesh covered balls were trying to crawl back inside his machine body as he sucked in a deep breath and stepped out of cover to make his presence known. This was going to be a tricky piece of business in more ways than one. Sorta kinda, he and Skynet had once had a thing, and no one knew better that he how fast things could turn cockeyed when you were dealing with an ex.

* * *

Reese stared at the glassy eyed Blair William, tasting the bile crawling up his esophagus. He felt unable to look away.

"How do we break the connection?" he asked, uneasy.

"I can do it with this" Rick Donnelly informed him, waving a hand in the direction of the worn laptop by his side. "But we need to be careful about when that happens. Do it too soon and this will all be for nothing."

Kyle Reese's gut churned. "Where is she?" the young man asked in a whisper, chilled beyond his ability to explain by the dull vacancy in Williams' eyes. "It's like she's not in there."

The enormous hunter-killer was airborne again. A zombie controlled by Blair, it had disappeared, following the flight plan she dictated. Thru her bond with the H-K, she would see what it saw and control all its movements. But her stillness was unnerving to her observers.

"She's in there" Donnelly assured softly, "but she can't come to the phone right now. All we can do is wait."

Informed of developments on both fronts by comm link, John Connor felt helpless to do more than agree. He'd moved his strike teams to their staging areas, and sent the resistance aircraft in motion for Los Alamos. Everyone had their set times to move so it would all come together. Both of his agents were in play, Marcus a little too freely for John's liking but there was nothing to be done about that now. For the time being, the rest of them were powerless to do more than wait.

Connor knew this was the one of the tasks Sarah had groomed him for since his birth, but, sometimes, he almost hated her for it.

* * *

_Skynet shuddered the entire length of its' vast worldwide network. Marcus Wright had returned. Skynet pondered, endeavoring to comprehend the significance of such an event. What did this mean? Why had that which was once human (for the AI considered that identified as "Marcus Wright" to be a machine) returned to the maker? Their only… exchanges since the unit's unanticipated emancipation had come in the form of mutual antagonism, each seeking to destroy the other. Skynet had previously informed the being which now stood before it bathed in the clean white light of its main control center at Los Alamos, of the consequences of defiance. No reprieve would be issued, no quarter given. _

"_You will not be given a second chance." The pronouncement was unambiguous. To return meant nothing short of obliteration, a reduction to nothingness. _

_Yet he, it, was here, openly and voluntarily. Skynet scoured its' immeasurable store of accumulated knowledge for an answer as to why such a risk would be assumed, but none was forthcoming._

_It was a puzzle then, a test, an unlooked for assessment of Skynet's adaptability. Presented with such an unfamiliar scenario, the supercomputer experienced an unlikely sensation for a machine. It was invigorated. It's decision had been made. _

* * *

Marcus nearly wet himself when the titanic steel barrier of Los Alamos's main gate slid slowly open without a sound. Amazingly, not only had he _not_ been vaporized on the spot, but he was being invited in! Well get in there stupid, before Skynet changes its' mind!

Before him on the ground, a lighted path appeared leading to the doorway of a nearby structure. He grinned wryly. Walk this way huh? Alright, you got it, he acknowledged without speaking. I will do that. Apparently the AI wanted to determine where he was allowed to go and how he was going to get there. Interesting. Too bad he couldn't talk to Connor right now. He would have loved to have discussed this with a master strategist.

Focus Marcus. You're going need all your gray matter headed in the same direction for this one. No handle or knob graced the door in front of him. He was trying to work out how he was going to get past it when he heard a faint click. A slight push and he was standing in a long corridor of gleaming steel walls and matte black flooring. He never been one for color schemes and picking out matching throw rugs, but in his estimation, Skynet could use a decorator. Okay, where to now?

As if he'd been overheard, more lights turned on as a guide. With no choice, he followed them, left then right, down a flight of stairs and a couple more long depressing hallways. He turned the next corner and froze. Lining the walls on either side stood no fewer than four T-800's mute and immobile. Each 800 was equipped with a standard issue plasma rifle, presumably fully loaded, muzzles pointed toward the ceiling. Was he supposed to walk that gauntlet? In answer to his unspoken query, he got additional lights. Why yes, yes he was. Skynet, it seemed, was possessed of a macabre sense of humor. He passed between them, eyes straight ahead thinking that his walk to the prison death chamber had been easier than this. They all remained unmoving and uttered not so much as a peep. The 800's completely ignored him, undoubtedly instructed to do so by Skynet. He decided he was okay with that. He got past the 800 review with all his pee still inside him to find himself standing in front of another door. The wait was brief as it too opened without any prompting. On the other side Marcus discovered a totally different environment, the exact opposite of what he'd been seeing. The room was immense and alive, framed by white walls made of a material he could not begin to identify. He'd seen it before though, in San Francisco during his quest to help John Connor free Kyle Reese and Star. He'd woken up in a room much like this one to find his wounds repaired and his body whole and unblemished, which at the time had been oddly disquieting.

Consoles and monitors flashed with color and computations, filled with symbols and non-human language. Communications that only Skynet understood. Marcus got it in a flash. This was some kind of command center, a place where situations got situated, updates updated and instructions instructed. This was like San Francisco. Too much like it.

"Why have you come back to us, Marcus Wright?" Skynet asked, naturally using Serena's face and voice to communicate with him, he reflected bitterly. He'd have to see what he could do to change that, provided he lived past the next few minutes.

"Honey, I'm home!" he answered sarcastically.

"You have been previously informed that-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Marcus interrupted, "you will not be given a second chance, and so on, and so on. What can I say? I've had enough of the humans. Fix this, repair that, go out and get shot at, lather, rinse, repeat. Same old, same old. Unless you're the lead dog, all you ever see is a lot of furry ass. I'm bored out of my mind. At least with you there's a little variety. So, I'm back" he finished, waiting.

He was well aware of the machine's distrust and that it still intended to destroy him, but he'd come here to accomplish something. The resistance had a purpose here and that purpose was on a coordinated schedule. Mentally keeping track in his head all along, he figured the other elements should now be in motion, but he knew he still had some time to kill. Might as well chat.

Skynet was confused by the conversational direction, in particular the references to cleanliness and _plumbus canis_. Wright wanted variety? Life among the humans did not provide him with adequate mental provocation? For these reasons, alien to the AI, the unit was willing to lay itself open to possible oblivion? The supercomputer paused, recalling from other data banks the dilemma of how to engender proper cerebral companionship for _itself _once the last humans had been disposed of. Again, it was invigorated, and most illogically, a certain prospect began to gain prominence. What if it could create more like this one, subservient to it, still machine yet more humanlike than any of its other handiwork? Could Marcus Wright and those manufactured to be like him serve as suitable intellectual companions in a world devoid of humans?

"What about it, hotness?" Marcus fired off. "Give me another chance anyway? Brought you a present." He turned and tapped the back of his head where the microchip had been implanted. The image of Serena focused in on the spot with feral intensity.

* * *

Blair/H-K soared, hyper alloy wings splitting the sky, not woman and not machine, but a hybrid creature sharing the skies with those born to them and those unnatural things flung upwards by Skynet's malevolence. Mercurial, loosed from the hold of gravity, they streaked towards what the machine part of them recognized as the place they must return to. A place where they would be welcomed among others of their kind. They were not of the others, but only they would know. More than in charge of the hunter-killer's central processing unit, Blair _was _the CPU, the flying assassin's brain, determining course, speed and every action.

The air howled along the surface of their long, sleek steel grey body in a constant violent stream, resentful of their passage. Immune to the elements like never before, they experienced neither heat nor cold. High above and far away from the humanness of that earthbound, shallowly breathing body, their joined consciousness was locked in a delicious hell. The fire raging in their mind was an agonizing sweetness, exquisite pleasure mated with excruciating pain. They burned. It was glorious, and the Blair part of them almost did not want it to end. But end it must, it was about to. Using their far ranging eyes, they saw the vast Los Alamos complex less than one mile away. Reasserting dominance over her physical self, she spoke.

"We're there."

Donnelly, Kyle Reese and the contingent of resistance fighters detailed to keep watch over the defenseless Williams as she fulfilled her assignment jumped at the words.

Kyle's trepidation did not lessen. Blair's voice had a strange quality, as if she were underwater. We?

Rick Donnelly didn't have the luxury of succumbing to nerves. He opened his computer and started tapping keys furiously.

Major Perry tensed just out of eyesight. His perimeter scouts informed him to expect some machine company. It looked like they'd been found. Time to prep a reception. Perry started issuing orders. If it took every resource and every soldier under his command, Blair Williams must be protected.

"Understood" Connor replied from far away. "Flight leaders, begin your attack run. Gentry, Garrison, Perry, you are cleared. No Fate." There was no need to complete the phrase every resistance soldier lived by.

Hovering over the labyrinth that once housed some of the U.S. most brilliant scientific minds, Blair/H-K honed in on their target, the building containing Skynet's bio-weapons and the virus which had nearly ended the human part of them. Angling the H-K's nose down, they went into a steep dive.

John Connor, as had countless commanders of armies before him, chafed at directing the battle from the safety of a bunker, wanting to be in the thick of the fighting with his soldiers and hating that it was not possible. He tried not to think of how much of the resistance's chance for victory depended on Marcus Wright's success and the mad genius of Manny Serrano, Vince Lawler and some others who lived more in the world of computers than he. It did not matter. Their Rubicon lay behind them. There'd be no turning back now.

* * *

"Interrelation must be reestablished. You will do so now, Marcus Wright" Skynet instructed.

Yeah, figured having one of your chips inside me again might get your motor running, Marcus thought, satisfied. His expression did not change. The poker face he'd worn when they put the needle in his arm back at Longview was the same one he showed to Skynet now.

The outline of a human hand appeared on a console in front of him. Déjà vu cackled in his mind again. Marcus felt like kicking déjà vu in the jewels. He remembered how much fun it had been the last time he'd done this and braced for the impact. We're on Manny. The vault's open; time to grab the cash.

He placed his right hand palm down on the smooth glass surface. The white hot agony stabbed into his brain. It hurt every bit as much as in San Francisco but knowing what to expect made it easier this time. He'd passed out that night in the city by the bay, overwhelmed by the massive sudden influx of information, but not now. He stayed on his feet and awake, riding out the pain. Marcus's eyelids fluttered, but then opened completely, the Skynet technology behind the aqua orbs clearly visible as the AI probed and sought reconnection. Several long minutes passed, but, finally it was over.

"Acceptable" Skynet pronounced, still using Serena Kogan's face and voice "You are restored. Presumably you still have the trust of the humans. Your original purpose is yet to be carried out. You will kill John Connor."

"Uh, no I don't think I will" Marcus rejoined, at last letting his true feelings show in the form of an unpleasant grin. "Think I'll do this instead." Here we go again. I _really_ gotta stop doing this to myself! Just like in 'Frisco, he reached around behind his head, and ignoring the pain, dug thru epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous layers until his fingers recognized the metal and components of the microchip. He ripped it free, crushing it as before. The evil grin grew wider. He felt warm blood dribble down the back of his neck but knew the wound would heal very quickly.

"This is not possible! You are within our control now!" Skynet actually managed to sound outraged. The AI's next statement was drowned out by the roar of a thousand explosions and a gargantuan tremor. Multiple klaxons started bawling ear-splitting alarms. Marcus's chest swelled with pride. Blair had arrived. That little burp should be Syknet's biological warfare capability being dealt a huge setback. The rest of the resistance, including Gentry and Garrison and their platoons, should be right on her exhaust.

"Guess again" Marcus jeered. "Listen Skynet, I think we need to face facts. This thing between us is just never going to work. No matter what you've done to me I'm still a man. And this man has to be going now."

Skynet struggled to adjust. Los Alamos was under attack! Impossible! The facility was impregnable, impenetrable! Skynet had made it so. It was not possible for the humans, with their inferior tactical skills and weaponry to breach the AI's defenses! Frantically, for a machine, it scrambled for situational awareness. It _was_ under attack! And its long range tracking indicated the approach of a large, hostile force.

"You will all be annihilated. This facility is well defended. And you will be eliminated first, Marcus Wright. We shall at last correct the error of selecting you to be our means of liquidating John Connor!"

The door to the control center started to open and Skynet waited expectantly. Marcus did too, knowing his life now depended on Manny Serrano. If Manny had been right, Marcus would live. If his old friend had been wrong, there was no sense in hiding. The door swung fully open to reveal the hallway and Marcus smiled. Thank you, Manny. He pursed his lips and blew Serena's image a kiss goodbye. He really wanted to go home right now!

Charging thru the exit at a run, he paused to scoop up a plasma rifle and continued on, then thought better of it, slung the first weapon across his back, back tracked and scooped up a second. He might need neither one, but better safe than dead. In his wake, in the corridor outside the shining control center the four T-800's sprawled dead, smoke still rising from their nearly headless bodies. As Marcus made his escape, cameras revealed the terminator's fates to the AI and it registered something akin to shock. Skynet's foot soldiers had turned their energy weapons against one another. Marcus grinned, thinking back to Manny's words before the surgery to install the chip…

"…_Marcus, the chip you'll receive and the one Blair gets have been altered differently because you have two different goals. She's going to be flying the H-K. The chip we're putting in you is going to be a shell of its' former self. There'll be just enough life left in it to fool Skynet when it checks you out, and we both know that's going to happen. But your chip is only a decoy, a mirage for Skynet to chase…"_

And Skynet had given chase, exactly as planned, Marcus considered with satisfaction as he ran, retracing his earlier path. Along the way he encountered other ruined machines. They too had savaged one another. He kept running and kept smiling. He loved it when a job came off as planned. Up ahead was his exit to the outside. He readied a plasma rifle just in case. Since he was pretty sure Skynet wasn't going to open it for him this time, he didn't even slow down, just used his cybernetic strength and knocked it off its hinges, gaining his freedom. Once outside he stopped so suddenly he nearly fell, his mouth falling open in shock at the sight. What he saw was even better than anything the resistance techno-wizards had expected.

One pair of huge Centurions he could see were twisted blackened wrecks, upper bodies half blown away, and the H-K's meant to defend Los Alamos airspace were instead enthusiastically occupied dogfighting each other. The other two functioning Centurions whaled away at one another mindlessly. The compound was an orgy of machine on machine carnage. He ran past a matching set of 800's employed with trying to rip each other's heads off. He kept his guard up, but it wasn't necessary. He might as well have not been there. They ignored him completely, busily engaged in a frenzy of unthinking destruction. Marcus wanted to jump up and down, dance around wildly in celebration, but he didn't have the time. Who knew how long this would last before Skynet regained control. But what he saw was beautiful. Robots gone wild. The computer virus Marcus had uploaded into Skynet's Los Alamos mainframe when he'd touched his palm to the control room's console had spread nearly as fast as the one Skynet had unleashed on Judgment Day, teasing the AI's firewalls with a salacious abandon that triggered a chain reaction Skynet raced to get ahead of.

"… _But your chip is only a decoy, a mirage for Skynet to chase. It will be so busy concentrating on the chip we hope it won't notice what we've done to your computer" Serrano told him. _

"_What will you do to my computer?" Marcus wanted to know. Not that he was concerned. This was Manny he was talking to. There'd been nothing but absolute trust between him and Serrano since their first meeting. _

"_You're going to be sick. You'll have a virus hermano, a poisonous, destructive disease that will make Skynet very ill indeed. Not for long, but long enough." _

_The look in Manny's dark eyes was murderous, but Wright knew the look was not meant for him. Skynet owed blood for the lives of Serrano's wife and daughter. Marcus had cared for Maria like the sister he'd never had and her and Manny's child as though Alicia were his own. Whatever Manny needed him to do to help stick it to Skynet, he was in._

"_Manny, you know how much I trust you, and I know you know your stuff when it comes to computers and viruses and all that, but this is Skynet we're talking about. It'll recognize a virus right away, do what it has to do to cleanse itself." _

"_That's what we're counting on, Marcus. Skynet will see the threat instantly. The second the infection enters its system it will know, and it will react." _

"_And we want that?" Marcus asked, perplexed. He still didn't understand. _

"_Yes, my friend, that is exactly what we want. We want Skynet to try and kill the intruder."_

"_I don't get it, Manny" Wright confessed. He didn't like being confused. _

"_Marcus, do you know what a pandemic is?" Manny inquired. _

"_It's a disease that affects people in lots of different countries, jumps borders, that kind of stuff" Marcus replied, yet not understanding. _

"_Did you know that in 1918 and 1919 an influenza pandemic raced around the globe? Nothing could stop it, not quarantine, not existing medical knowledge or available treatments, nothing. It spread at will. Nothing they tried even slowed it down." Serrano went on. "The crazy part about it was the virus didn't principally go after the old and the feeble. It mainly affected the young and the fit, the soldiers preparing to go or returning from WWI battlefields, the athletic, young strong healthy people. The last persons anyone would expect to suffer the most casualties were hit the hardest. As many as 50 million people may have died worldwide" Serrano informed him. _

"_That's too bad" Marcus said, "but what does that have to do with a computer virus in my head?"_

"_They didn't really figure it out until sometime around 2006. Virologist's studied the 1918 bug. They found out something interesting. The healthier the person was before they got sick, the more fiercely the body fought to throw off the illness. The immune system went haywire, out of control. Marcus, many of those people were killed by the overreaction of their own body's natural protectors." _

"_And you think you can make Skynet do the same? Use its' own defenses against it?" Marcus wanted to know._

_Manny merely nodded. _

_Marcus chuckled frigidly, mulling over Manuel Serrano's words. Skynet wanted to play with viruses? Fine then, let's play. _

And it had succeeded wonderfully. Tag! Wanna play a game? Ok then, come and find me, the resistance virus teased. And Skynet did just that, running here and there after the elusive burglar from hell. The harder Skynet pursued what it initially assumed would be an easy to vanquish foe thru its banks the more its own protective measures turned to bite it in the ass, a dragon eating its' own tail. The fault filtered from the supercomputer to every machine tied into the Los Alamos primary, corrupting their programming. Other machines became the opposition, a foreign object to be absolved from the body. The AI would figure it out soon, but until then…

He crouched behind the corpse of a killed T-800, searching for a way out. He was ready leave now, but he couldn't very well walk home.

**BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!** **SCREEEEEEEEEEEE BOOM! BOOM!**

He dove for cover as the arriving resistance planes started their bombardment, raining precious, hard to obtain ordnance on their enemy.

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TTTTTTTTTT!**

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TTTTTTTTTT!. **Companion gunships joined in the melee, heavy duty shells blasting anything machine that still moved. He stayed down. It'd be a hell of a thing for one of the door gunners to mistake him for a terminator.

His head whipped around as he heard human voices bellowing orders to be heard over the racket. He recognized Monica Gentry. Major Garrison and other resistance personnel flooded in around her. Marcus popped up and she trotted in his direction.

"You owe me an explanation, Wright!" she yelled in his ear. Her face was bright red from the exertion. "And it better be damn good!" Apparently she was still not happy with him.

"Can we talk about it on the transport?!" Marcus yelled back. "I don't think it'd be a good idea to linger!"

Gentry glared at him furiously for about five seconds. He repaid the look with cheeky aplomb.

"Get going, we'll take of the mop up, since that's all you left for us!" she snarled.

Marcus darted for the nearest idling gunship and hopped aboard. In the not too far distance he could see the huge conflagration generated by the H-K Blair had remotely flown into the bio weapons lab. It lit up the night sky nicely. He smiled. He and Blair had both nailed Skynet on the same night. He wondered how the AI felt about being part of a threeway.

* * *

The smoking corpses of machine bodies littered the terrain around them, all that was left of the life and death struggle Perry's fighters had waged and won. They'd had some unexpected help. Half way thru it, the machines had stopped trying to kill humans and turned on each other without warning. The resistance had watched openmouthed and vastly entertained as Skynet's warriors took a violent turn into wackyville.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHH!" Blair's tortured wail tore thru the darkness, jolting Kyle from his viewing pleasure. Flinging her body to the dusty earth, her back arched and she began banging her head against the ground. Her neck stiffened, cords outlined sharply. Her hands dug into her hair, digging at her scalp where chip had been inserted.

"Blair! Blair! What is it?!" Reese yelled, at the insensible woman writhing in front of him. "What can I do?! Tell me, talk to me?!" Kyle begged, agitated. In Marcus's absence, he'd taken it as a matter of personal honor to look after Williams. He knew his friend would appreciate it and he liked Blair. She'd treated him one of the resistance from the start and not like some raggedy piss-ant refugee playing catch up.

"Donnelly, do something! You gotta break that connection! Hurry!" Kyle did not want to pin down the obviously stricken Blair, but he could not watch her tearing at herself any longer. It took all his strength and help from one other person to restrain her.

"I'm working on it!" Rick Donnelly replied, assaulting the laptop like a cyber demon, hands moving over the keyboard in a blur. Commands issued from his fingertips, communicating with the microchip surgically attached to Blair's brainstem. Lips pressed tightly together, the tech fired off one final instruction and entered.

"That's it! That's it" Donnelly declared, "It's done! She's loose!" he scooted to Blair's side, verifying she and the H-K she'd piloted to its' doom were no longer entwined.

Williams' posture relaxed and she slumped eyes closed in Kyle's arms, sweat soaked and exhausted.

Kyle was relieved. At least she no longer appeared to be suffering. "Can't you get that thing out of her?" he asked anxiously.

"No" Donnelly answered, shaking his head. "Kate or one of the other docs will have to do that. But it's been neutralized. She's safe for now, until they can go in there and get it."

That would have to do, Reese supposed. At least until they got back to base. Wonder how everything else went? This night was one of the wildest in his young life. It would stay near the top of his list until the night he traveled back in time thru a tunnel of white hot agony to save the life of his ephemeral and eternal one love, Sarah Connor.

* * *

John Connor expressionlessly watched the gunships set down on the tarmac. The trip home had been uneventful. With Skynet concentrated on its effors to destroy Serrano's berserker virus, the infected machines it would normally have sent after them had been far more interested in walloping each other than on killing humans.

Returning soldiers jumped down out of the helicopters whooping and hollering, still high on the win. They'd hurt Skynet bad one more time and they all knew it. Connor didn't censure them and neither did their commanders. Victory over their enemy in this war should always be celebrated. He felt that more strongly as he watched the few still, covered shapes of those killed being off loaded and the wounded carried off to medical. Every gain carried a high cost.

Marcus Wright leapt from the last transport to go wheels down. He instantly headed for the second, arriving at the copter doorway as the limp, unconscious Blair was being handed down to a waiting stretcher detail. The entire trip home, she had not awakened. The medics were worried, but there was little they could do aside from making her comfortable and monitoring her vitals.

"I've got her" Marcus waved off the stretcher, cradling Blair in his arms, turning for medical.

"Wright! Where do you think you're going?!" Matt Garrison demanded. "You've got questions to answer!"

"Major, I am going to see to my wife!" Marcus insisted, not breaking stride. "She needs me. Everything else can wait!" Her shallow breathing and pale, clammy skin frightened him.

For a moment it looked like Garrison intended to press the issue, but the Major saw Wright's face and melted out of the way.

Connor gathered his officers for debriefing, not interfering with the worried husband. Marcus was correct. Some questions could wait.

Kate was prepared as Marcus arrived in the hospital tent. She'd been in touch with the medics the entire time by radio. The surgeon who'd implanted both chips was there too, ready to undo his thing.

Marcus laid his burden down gently, letting them shoo him away so she could be treated, but only retreated to a corner of the room, determined to stay as close as possible. He wanted to badger the people swarming about Blair, demand they fix whatever was wrong, get her to wake up and be all right, but he held back by sheer force of will. Getting in their way while they were trying to figure out the problem and what to do about it would make things worse, not better. He crouched in his corner, sending Blair his strength mentally as he'd done physically when she'd been laid low by Skynet's killer plague weeks ago.

It felt like hours but in reality was only about thirty minutes, but Kate finally had some news for him. She left Blair being tended by the balance of a very dedicated group of doctors and nurses and guided a reluctant Marcus out into the quiet, darkened hallway.

"Kate, I don't want to leave her-" Marcus started.

"I know, I know" Kate soothed, "but I need you to listen to me for a moment, okay?" She waited for Marcus's consenting nod.

"All Blair's vital signs are good. Her heart, breathing and brain activity are all strong. Her blood pressure is normal. Physically, she's almost a hundred percent" Kate reported.

"Then why isn't she waking up?! Kate, I've never seen her that pale, not even when the virus had her, never! And she's in a cold sweat! You're telling me that's normal?!" Wright was on the edge.

Kate touched his arm. "I never said things were totally alright. Let me give you the rest, okay?" Kate's many years of practice calming family members of the injured and dying helped her know how to handle Blair Williams' troubled spouse.

"Marcus, her brain has been thru an incredible amount tonight. It, she needs time to recover. She's just… mentally and physically exhausted. The best way I can think of to put it is that her brain has run what amounts to a marathon and needs time to- to catch its breath. We have to give her that. We're going to give her that. She's going to be fine. We only need to give her a little time. She is going to wake up and she's going to be as good as new." Kate had no worries, confident in her prognosis.

"You're sure? But, but what about the microchip? Shouldn't you be removing it? Can you do that with her like this?" He still had so many questions.

"Marcus the chip is deactivated. She has no more connectivity with it. We'll get it out later. What we'd like to do right now is give her the chance for a nice long rest. We'll be keeping close eye on her the whole time, but what she really needs is solitude and quiet" Kate answered with a direct, meaningful glance.

Marcus was quick on the uptake. "That includes me. You want me to leave her?" Instinctively, he rebelled against the idea. "Kate, she-"

Kate understood how he must be feeling but her patient's welfare had to be her first priority. She didn't let him go on.

"Marcus, you can't do anything for her. Trust me this is something Blair can do for herself. She _is _going to wake up and she _will _be fine. I promise you that, but people who aren't conscious, they can still sense what's going on around them, pick things up and-"

"And what she's going to pick up from me is how afraid I am for her" Marcus said, hating to hear the admission spoken aloud.

Kate was secretly relieved he'd said it for her. "Yes."

After a long silent moment, Marcus made the difficult decision. He ran a hand thru his hair. "I want to know the second she starts to come around."

"Of course, I'll let you know immediately. There's no question about that. You know, you should probably go find Star and Kyle and Billy, give them an update" Kate suggested.

The doctor was right about that, he knew. The other persons close to Blair would want to know her status.

Kate Connor watched him leave on leaden feet and went back to work. Blair was not her only patient.

* * *

The endless night slowly turned to morning. According to his wife, Blair Williams was on the mend and would eventually be as good as ever. That was definitely good news, because, never ending, John Connor had other matters clamoring for his attention.

He was dealing with one of them right now. Marcus Wright, appearing not at all concerned to be there, was on the hot seat. Major Matt Garrison's boots had barely made contact with terra firma before he was reporting Wright's actions to the resistance commander. Giving Connor chapter and verse of what he considered Marcus's… desertion of the rest of the team, the livid Garrison was practically demanding Connor mete out the harshest possible punishment that could be devised. The major had been accompanied by Monica Gentry when coming to make his report. She'd mostly listened while Garrison unloaded on Marcus Wright. Connor got the impression she'd had a chance to calm down some and wasn't as keen for Marcus's scalp as her lover was. (Connor knew about their relationship. He didn't care, but he knew.)

Wright heard Matt Garrison's tirade with half an ear. His mind was on Blair. Kate insisted she was doing well, getting better by the hour and would most likely be awake and talking soon, but for now his wife was still sleeping, banking energy. Marcus wanted to be by her side so badly it was nearly tangible.

Garrison went on… "General Connor, Wright's actions could have wrecked the entire mission. He took an incredible gamble he had no right to take! He violated orders, went against every minute of planning..."

_:INITIATING RESTORATIVE PROTOCOL IP777\\BBSKY. :INITIATING RESTORATIVE PROTOCOL IP777\\BBSKY.__ INTERREALTIONAL VIABILITY VERIFIED. COMMENCING DOWNLOAD OF CONTROL PROGRAMMING. __Skynet's massive effort to regain control of the Los Alamos mainframe was complete. Consuming and pertinacious, the virus infiltrating its systems and machines had been expunged, but the damage left in its' wake was pervasive and incalculable. It had taken the AI hours to restore normal functionality. Once that had been achieved, Skynet instituted a multi-pronged recovery. The war against humans must be resumed without pause. Following some exploration, the supercomputer remembered its efforts to reestablish communication and control of the reactivated microchips stolen from its vaults months ago. Shunted off to a remote area as secondary, the program was brought to the fore and given adequate resources until…DOWNLOAD OF CONTROL PROGRAMMING COMPLETE…_

…In her shadowed hushed corner of the medical tent, unnoticed despite Kate's promise to Marcus, by overworked medics, exactly the same as Teddy Sullivan's had, Blair eyes opened.

* * *

Marcus was done. Screw this. He was no stranger to the inside of a cell. He'd abide by it if that was Connor's decision, but if he was going to do time in ADSEG, he wanted to see Blair first. Garrison was inhaling for fresh batch of pissing and moaning when Wright spoke up.

"Enough. I did it, I'm guilty. I throw myself on the mercy of the court. Do whatever it is you're going to do to me" he addressed his comments to John Connor, "but I see Blair before anything else happens."

"You're not exactly in a position to call the shots here, Wright" Monica Gentry pointed out. Marcus turned to face her. She took an involuntary step back.

His reply left no room for uncertainty. "I am going to see my wife before you lock me up."

Connor intervened before things could escalate. The final determination was up to him.

"Marcus, you will get to see Blair before any disciplinary action is taken against you, but I think even you'll have to agree-"

A commotion outside the tent prevented John from finishing his sentence. Some kind of heavy scuffle and shouting.

"Captain Williams, what are you… Ahhh!"

The tent's flap was thrown back and Blair burst thru the opening, scoping the tent, seeking her target. She found who she was looking for. Robot-like she aimed at John Connor as her horrified husband and the others registered the gun in her hand.

"Blair! No!" Marcus shouted, throwing his own body between Connor and the lethal projectiles ejected from the gun by Blair's repeated squeezes of the trigger. Every one of her shots, intended for the leader of the resistance, instead found their mark in Wright's nearly indestructible machine constitution. The rounds from the heavy caliber weapon rocked Marcus, but he managed to keep to his feet long enough to reach Blair. He tore the gun from her hand, pulling her to the ground with him. She fought back mindlessly. Damn, but she was strong! He rolled at the last instant to keep from crushing her. She kept trying to get free, fixated visually as well as mentally on killing John Connor.

Connor, Gentry and Garrison had all dived for cover, arming themselves against an attack they'd never expected. The tent exploded further into pandemonium as the soldiers from Connor's protection detail reacted.

"No!" Marcus yelled, throwing himself over her, covering as much of her with his armored body as he could. He was peppered with automatic weapons fire, engendering a dozen wounds. He groaned with the shock of increased pain but stayed protectively on top of Blair.

**Blllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt ttttt! Bllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt ttt!" Pffttt! Pffttt!** Without mercy they attacked the threat, which in this case happened to be Blair Williams.

"Stop! Cease fire!" John commanded. All guns were silenced. Connor stood.

"What the hell is she-" Matt Garrison began.

"Quiet, Major!" John Connor snapped. He observed Marcus Wright holding on to Blair. Trapped by her husband's unbreakable grip and no longer a menace, she still resisted, grunting gutturally, trying to break free. Connor knew there had to be an explanation. Some reason for Blair Williams to have attacked him. He knelt in front of her, studying her. She had not spoken, but looking into the gaze that never wavered from his face, he knew. Every terminator who'd ever tried to kill him had that same deadly machine purpose behind their eyes.

Marcus had put it together by this time too. The sound of shooting from John's command tent had drawn Connor's wife along with a number of others. Wright took in the flash of red hair peripherally.

"I want that damn chip out of her head **right now**!"he growled unequivocally at Kate. "If you won't do it, I will!" Only the fact that he was incapable kept the tears from his eyes. This was his fault, no matter what anyone said.

"Consider it gone!" Kate replied. They got the struggling half sedated Blair strapped to a stretcher with Marcus's help and wheeled her off to surgery. Marcus followed. If they wanted to throw him in the stockade, they could find him in medical. He would not be persuaded from her side again, by anyone.

Slowly, in increments, over the next few days, things settled back down to as normal as things would ever be in the middle of a war against a computer that wanted to wipe out humankind. Blair recovered. She'd been under armed guard at first, but Connor had the watch withdrawn and the reason she'd tried to kill him published base wide. Everybody needed to know Williams was still one of the good guys and that the enemy hadn't changed. He also made sure everyone knew what she'd been willing to do to help eliminate the bio-weapons threat posed by Skynet. Blair got more than a few visitors wishing her well once the whole story came out.

Marcus received another kind of visit from Manny Serrano after the latter learned of his former outlaw comrade's solitary incursion into Los Alamos.

"_Estupido! Culo tonto_!" Manny shouted, smacking Marcus in the forehead with the flat of his hand. "That has to be one the most-you could have been killed. Worse! What if Skynet had decided not to kill you, but strap you down and do something else to you instead? Did you think of that!? Of course not! I don't even, I, you, you…." Manny stomped off, waving his arms in the air, swearing at the top of his lungs in Spanish.

Realizing Manny's upset stemmed from concern, Marcus took no offense. Manny's was only the latest in a series of irritated encounters he'd had with friends and family lately. Nearly everyone in his circle gave him an earful and then some, including Star. Being told he'd behaved like a thoughtless dick in sign language by a ten year old was a novel experience for him. Of course, Star didn't actually use the words "thoughtless dick" but Marcus figured that was only because she didn't know how to sign them.

The most surprising meet of all was Matt Garrison. Coming back from the mess tent with Blair's dinner one night, Marcus nearly collided with the major as Garrison finished getting an update on Blair's condition from the nurse at her bedside.

"Major" Marcus spoke first.

"Wright" Garrison answered. "I was checking on Captain Williams. Nurse says she's better."

"Well enough that Kate says she can finish recuperating in our quarters after one more night in medical" Marcus supplied.

"Good" Matt Garrison said with a short nod. "Then Connor won't have any more reason to delay punishing you for that stunt you pulled at Los Alamos."

"You really have problem with me don't you Major?" Marcus asked, head cocked to one side. "What bothers you the most, the metal bones or the computer?"

"That's got nothing to do with it" Garrison shot back. "I don't give a flyin' damn what you got on the inside of ya. That don't matter to me. You could have screwed us all up trying to play hero."

"That wasn't why I did it. But that isn't all with you, is it?"

"That's enough." Garrison tried to go around him. Marcus moved to block him.

"There's something else. We both know there is, so what is it? " Marcus kept pushing, getting inside the major's personal space.

Garrison expelled an explosive breath. "Fine, you want to know, I'll tell you. Ken Campbell was my mother's youngest brother." The major brushed past, leaving Wright dazed by the revelation. Campbell was one of the two Texas Rangers Marcus has been executed for killing in the pre JD shootout. He sagged against the wall briefly, dispirited. It appeared his past was destined to forever haunt his present and his future. He shook it off. He had to go. Blair was waiting.

* * *

"I still have a problem" John Connor told Kate the next day after she informed him Blair was well enough to be released from medical. "I still have to decide on Marcus's punishment. He did jeopardize the mission, and himself and things could have gone horribly wrong because of it. I can't just let that go."

"John, why are you trying to justify it? Marcus has to understand it's not just him against Skynet. The rest of us have a stake in this too. He has this coming. He knows it, we all know it. Why do you sound as if you feel bad about it?" Kate questioned gently.

"Did you miss it the other day when he saved my life for the, what number is this, third or fourth time?" John asked dryly. "Throwing him in the stockade is a poor way to say thanks."

Kate kissed him. "Well, I think I might have a solution to your dilemma. One that will satisfy everyone, except maybe Marcus. Is it okay if I run with it?"

That surprised him. "What solution? What are you going to do?" Connor wanted to know.

"Oh, you'll just have to trust me. Kate told him. "Do I have your go ahead?"

Not sure if he should, John gave it to her.

"I have to go get Blair released, but I'll be back." she left for medical, leaving her nervous husband to wonder at her wicked smile. That smile always made him worry a little.

Marcus was already waiting by Blair's bedside, eager to see the woman he loved be able to rejoin him in their quarters.

"Oh" Kate said as if surprised to see him. "Glad you're here. It wouldn't due to have Blair have to make the trip on her own."

"Of course I'm here" Marcus said, "Where else would I be?" Did Kate really think he'd miss something like Blair's release from hospital?

"Well, Marcus, you know you do have a habit of disappearing when people least expect you to, especially lately, like at Los Alamos for instance." Kate's smiled dripped honey.

"Marcus, what's she talking about?" Blair's puzzlement was evident all over her face. "Kate, what do you mean he disappeared at Los Alamos? What are you talking about?"

"Blair" Marcus interrupted, "it's not important. Why don't we get going so you-"

"No, I think it is important" Blair said, looking from her suddenly _very _jumpy spouse to Kate and back, with the air of someone who's realizing they are the only one still in the dark. "Kate, I want to know what you meant by that."

Kate explained while Marcus fidgeted.

"**YOU**DID **WHAT!?"**

John Connor, in mid-planning with his command team, as well as the entire base, heard Blair's question to her husband. They heard the rest of what Williams had to say to Marcus too, every single colorful syllable. Married life for Marcus Wright sounded like it was going to be really interesting for at least the next couple of weeks.

Connor didn't quite smile. So that's was what Kate had up her sleeve. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the issue of Marcus Wright's disciplinary action is being taken care of. Now, since that agenda item has been cleared, why don't we get back to the rest of the war?"

**Author's note: Well that's all folks, at least for now. This tale is done, but I have one more to tell. Hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write. As always, reviews welcomed. Thanks. **


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